Cost of Drugs

Our total amount out of pocket expense for drugs on the presidents prescription program is now right around a hundred dollars a month. This on a fixed income is a lot more then we have to spend. One drug that I take has had the best effect on my seizures of any medication I have used so far. Trilipital does a real good job of curbing my seizures. I use to get it for $7.00 for three months, it is now $30 per month. The drug czar that produces it says that since I have prescription coverage I can afford to buy it. Little do they know that I really can not afford it. Our president and the republicans in Washington that produced this little lie need to be ran out of Washington on a rail. In my previous post I mentioned the idea of forcing the drug companies to stop advertising on the general media, that is TV, Radio, News Papers and Magazines (with the exception of the medical journals). They should additionally be very limited on what a Drug rep can promise or give to a doctor. They need to leave the doctors and patience alone so that we can better manage our care. It is the patients together with the doctors who manage our care. When these companies inject themselves into this formula it destroys this relationship.

The net result of this is to raise the price of medications and make millions for the drug companies. The HMO’s take advantage of this by creating what is termed formularies to control the cost of medications. These formularies are created by Doctor’s who are hired by the HMO’s to control the cost of medications. The problem is that your doctor knows what will work best for you in conjunction with what you have told him/her. Your doctor may believe that a certain medication will work best for you under your conditions demands. However, when it comes to buying that drug the HMO is more likely to look at the formulary and if your medication is not on that list you end up paying full price. That means that the HMO and The Pharmaceutical company’s are deciding what is best for you and not your doctor or you.
The Water Cure: An interview with Dr. Batmanghelidj

Drug Reps abusing patient doctor relationship!

The website that this article is in has some real good information. They are saying what I have been trying to say for a number of years. Look here the drug companies are fleecing america to the tunes of billions of dollars. George Bush wake up and find out who you are in bed with. These people need to be stopped and this article says exactly why.

Drug reps use psychological tactics to successfully influence doctors’ prescribing habits

My Meds

Well now it is my turn I have to call our insurance company about my medications. Before the new prescription plan I was getting my meds for $7 for three months. That’s right for three months only $7. Now I am going to have to buy it from the pharmacy and am scarred to talk to these people. This is like being between the proverbial hard place and a rock. The good news is my medication will be going to the generic maybe soon. That is no help for me though, because now I get to pay up the nose for a medication that actually helps. We need some kind of real national health coverage what we have is more like robbery. Some of our national leaders are scrreeemiing that national health coverage means socialism. So does that mean that is okay if these companies rob patients of their ability to live. If I have a choice between eating and medication I guess I will eat. This really sucks.

Talking to HMO’s

My wife talked to Uni-care about our Prescription Insurance. Some of our medications are not on the formulary. They told her to talk to our doctor, because she can file a form that states that we have used all other medication options and this one is the only one that works. Last time we went this route, they said okay it is covered now just pay $45 for a month’s medication. We were getting one of my medications for a co pay of $7 for three months. Now the Pharmaceutical company says that since we have the prescription drug coverage provided by Medicare I can not get it anymore, this for a medication that actually works.

In my wife’s case it is a medication that is used for migraines, that she has been using for years. It may not sound like much, but $15 is a lot when you are on a fixed income. It seems like it never settles down, but is one issue after another of scams to take money from Americas seniors.

What is with our Medical Care?

We just came back from another trip to the University Pharmacy. It feels like everytime we pick up our medications, we feel like we are being robbed. America is the number one country in the world economically, but when it comes to medical care for our citizens we rank below some third world countries. Oh! Yes if you need a doctor you get help right away. There are plenty of doctors and medical help available. The problem is that it all comes with a price. The HMO system is a misarable failure in providing help to those who most need it.

They make the cost to us so high, that sometimes you have to go without just so you can eat and have a roof over your head. We have a new prescription coverage program, we did better without it then now. In fact before some of our medications were free and now we have a co-pay for most of our medications. We were getting our diabetic supplies free and now they just added a 20% co-pay.

I am going to keep track here of all the ways that we have been taken by the HMO’s and the Pharmaceutical companies.