Ah, health insurance
Jun. 17th, 2005 09:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chickenTwo days ago I was diagnosed with a slipped/herniated/ruptured lumbar disk (via the usual symptoms including the telltale shooting pain down the sciatic nerve/right thigh, tingling and numbness in my right root, horrible pain in my right knee, and so on).
Even before I was diagnosed by the orthopedist, my regular doctor said to take 1800 mg of Ibuprofen per day, and on the seventh day, despite taking it with food, I got horrible stomach pains, so my doctor gave me a prescription for 40mg/day of omeprazole (Prilosec), to reduce the stomach acids. Of course the woman at the pharmacy informed me that my health insurance doesn't cover that particular medication, and I turn around and see that what I would have had to pay only $7 to get with my co-pay actually costs $27.99 over the counter.
HOLY COW. $27.99. Yeah, I can't afford that for a few little purple pills, but I also kept hearing my doctor's voice in my head saying, "he doesn't see the GI bleeders". Yes, my new orthopedist (to whom I was referred two days ago by my regular doctor) blithely said that the max. dose of Ibuprofen/day was 3200mg, whereas my regular doctor said 2400mg -- and when I asked my regular doctor to explain this discrepancy, she said, "that's because he doesn't see all the GI bleeders -- we see them all the time". Basically surgeons like this orthopedist don't take an enormous interest in anything but actual surgery.
AAAAAHH. Lovely.
Thankfully when I got home I found out my wife was smart and had saved the unused "sample" Prevacid boxes from when she had to take strong antibiotics! Such a smart, smart bunny. That's a similar enough drug, so that means I'm only a week or so short and in the meantime can probably have my doctor scare up some more samples or write a prescription for some other related medicine that United Healthcare does actually see fit to cover.
Even before I was diagnosed by the orthopedist, my regular doctor said to take 1800 mg of Ibuprofen per day, and on the seventh day, despite taking it with food, I got horrible stomach pains, so my doctor gave me a prescription for 40mg/day of omeprazole (Prilosec), to reduce the stomach acids. Of course the woman at the pharmacy informed me that my health insurance doesn't cover that particular medication, and I turn around and see that what I would have had to pay only $7 to get with my co-pay actually costs $27.99 over the counter.
HOLY COW. $27.99. Yeah, I can't afford that for a few little purple pills, but I also kept hearing my doctor's voice in my head saying, "he doesn't see the GI bleeders". Yes, my new orthopedist (to whom I was referred two days ago by my regular doctor) blithely said that the max. dose of Ibuprofen/day was 3200mg, whereas my regular doctor said 2400mg -- and when I asked my regular doctor to explain this discrepancy, she said, "that's because he doesn't see all the GI bleeders -- we see them all the time". Basically surgeons like this orthopedist don't take an enormous interest in anything but actual surgery.
AAAAAHH. Lovely.
Thankfully when I got home I found out my wife was smart and had saved the unused "sample" Prevacid boxes from when she had to take strong antibiotics! Such a smart, smart bunny. That's a similar enough drug, so that means I'm only a week or so short and in the meantime can probably have my doctor scare up some more samples or write a prescription for some other related medicine that United Healthcare does actually see fit to cover.
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-17 03:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-17 04:03 pm (UTC)I really hate to whine, because other people have to pay way, way more for their meds -- most people's co-pays are higher than mine, for example (my poor father).