Does it make any sense that my thyroid meds are MORE expensive

[Imp]

On the phone this morning I was assured by the demeaning woman that my access was fixed, gave me a temporary password.
I just tried to log in to find out that I do not exist. And even if I did exist I have no birthdate.

redhen,

Good luck &

Gotta love the competence.

Imp

 

[fuzziebutt]

Hubbo is retired from GM, and UAW thinks that Medco is all that. If we get me started on THAT, this thread will be closed, and I will get another one of those PM's.

 

[frostbite]

I'm just grateful I can purchase thyroid medications for any price. Without it, I would persist, feeling rotten, for a few years before finding out whether I was right about God. So thanks to the scientists and doctors and drug companies for developing drugs that save my life, and the lives of my friends. Not that there's anything wrong with knowing how much you're spending for medications. But sometimes when stuff is inexpensive, we forget how valuable it truly is. And for those medications that are really expensive, I just try to remind myself that the alternative to them being expensive, in many cases, is them not existing to begin with. So many things can be cured now, that never were before. I think it's pretty remarkable.

 

[oceanwidedesigns]

I skimmed the thread so I apologize if someone already suggested this...

My mom's endocrinologist prescribes her the brand name stuff instead of generic for her thyroid because just a small difference in the composition can cause a problem. That actually did happen for my grandpa - I suggested he ask his GI for a script for generic prilosec to save money, like the GI did for me. It stopped working for him, but as soon as he went back on the brand name OTC prilosec, he was back to normal. His Gi said the same thing to him about generic not always matching up with brand name.

Sooo... by any chance could your doctor of changed you from generic to brand name? Or maybe even the pharmacy doing such (don't know if they could...)?

Our insurance is covering less and less each year (especially since the health care act,) changing up what the plan covers. It's driving me nuts, last year I only had to pay the $20 copay for my pap... this year I'm going to be paying about $120. Now they refused to renew their contracts with a lot of pharmacies, so I'm going to be forced to go back to CVS... who could NEVER get ANYTHING right. It's hard to tell what's covered and what isn't covered anymore... I'm to the point of wondering why we pay them each month if the "insurance" isn't really insuring that things will be covered when needed. Right now we've paid more in than we've had covered, and that's including several crisises this year!

 

[lockedhearts]

With all the meds hubby is now on since his Heart Attack and subsequent stents, I am always searching for cheaper alternatives. I was ok with our pharmacy that his ins is with, until ..... First they changed policy, we now must purchase 90 days at a time, second we got a Precscription card from the DR for 2 of his more expensive meds , third the 90 prices have increased the last 2 months.

Lipitor, we have a card from the manufacturer that makes our prescriptions $4 (way cheaper than the co-pay) we will see how this works next time at the 90 day refill

Niaspan, we had a card from the manufacturer for $20 off 6 refills (does not take a rocket scientist to do the math) we waited almost 2 hours for the pharmacy to figure it out

Prescription Zantac, went up almost $2

2 other meds were $4 for a 30 day and are now $20 for a 90 day......

He is checking to see if he can overlap his TriCare and I am checking to see if any of these are on any of the cheaper generic lists anywhere. The Dr will write new scrips if we need them too.

We are going broke trying to keep him alive

 

[gritsar]

It makes perfect sense in the crazy world of health care Red.

At Keith's last workmans comp. appointment the doctor said he was going to have to declare Keith's DVT (deep vein thrombosis, i.e., blood clot) chronic since he has been on blood thinners since April of 2010, still has one stubborn blood clot that won't resolve and now has to wear a custom fit stocking. Yet they have decided that he has 0% disability from his injury.

The other day the WC nurse called me about something else and I asked her, how can the doctor say he is 0% disabled from it when the leg will never be the same again???

She told me that under WC law, the leg didn't have to be 100% back to normal to declare a 0% disability; he just had to be able to walk on it.

 

[fuzziebutt]

Hubbo had to retire on disablility when he had an aneurysm that he had to learn to walk and talk because of all over again. His disability judge told him that he could be a chicken wire inspector. He told them he wasn't able to move away, and there are no chicken wire manufacturers around here. He has been on 100 percent since 1978.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Wouldnt make a difference really.. i'd still have to pay the insurance price because i need the stinkin' meds or my thyroid goes all wonky.

The pharmacy told DH that if we have insurance they HAVE to run it through.

Depending on the terms of the pharmacy's contract with your carrier, this can indeed be the case. In such situations, if we don't bill we can be nailed to the wall for it by both the insurer and our corporate higher-ups. It does occasionally happen that a copayment can be more than our cash price, as contract pricing can be an arcane matter. As we really aren't completely evil and heartless, those of us working on the front lines do think that sucks for our patients, but we can't disobey our corporate masters or our third-party masters without repercussions. Audits, fines, corporate visits, writeups, and even terminations in really extreme cases - fun fun fun!

Yeah, i know you guys get it from both ends... customer and insurance companies..

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Grrrr.. So frustrating!

 

[pips&peeps]

Unless the brand or strength was changed, the pharmacy cannot charge you more for the perscription than they charge the insurance company. Everyone is supposed to get charged the same amount whether it be a "private pay" or billed to insurance. If the drug cost less than the copay, then you are charged the lesser.

An insurance company may pay less to the pharmacy because of contractual or allowed amount, but the original amount charged cannot be different.