OK, I'm going to be a little harsh here because I'm just fed up with these clowns.
Can someone please.....fucking explain to me.......why I pay bigger and bigger health insurance premiums each year but get less and less coverage!?!?!? Seriously, anyone with a full time job that has health benefits gets the obligatory rate hike which eats up your measly raise and never do we get an explanation why.
Are they improving services? NO!
Are they expanding the network of doctors and specialists to choose from? NO!
Are they giving more of a discount on your prescription drugs? NO!
In fact, they likely limited their services, cut back on the doctors you can select, and thrown up so much extra red tape that your odds of getting proper medical care are pie in the sky dreams.
Average customer: Prescription drugs? Surgery? I don't think I can get that now with the new rules.
And that brings me to the latest in the linty of stupid moves done my health insurance company, United Health Care. I don't need surgery, I'm not dying.....it's just the little things they do that fucking set me off!
I received a letter in the mail recently:
Dear Member:
Your Prescription Drug List (PDL) consits of three tiers - Tier 1 is the lowest copayment tier and teir 3 is the highest copayment tier. Our records show that you are taking Fexofenadine, which is a medication that moved from Tier 2 to Tier 3 effective May 1, 2008.
Nice of them to tell me now since it's FUCKING JULY!!!!! By the way, Fexofenadine is also known as Allegra. I get some nasty allergies in the summer and I'm hitting these pills big time.
But wait, there's more!!!!!
Possible Alternatives
You have the option of continuing to take Fexofenadine and paying the higher (which mean HIGHEST) copayment. Or, you may want to consider an alternative medication listed in the table below that will result in the same copayment or lower copayment than what you are paying now. Be sure to save this letter so you can share a list of these alternatives with your doctor.
Oh gosh, thanks United Healthcare, what options have you given me that will have a lower copay or similar one?
- Claritin Over The Counter
- Zyrtec Over The Counter
And there there's another jab from United Healthcare (cock suckers) that describes their thought process.
We placed fexofenadine in Tier 3 because it is priced at a premium compared to over the counter options.Could that be because the prescription strength of the drug is more powerful than what's available over the counter and thus works at settling down my allergies!?!? Aren't prescription drugs often more powerful than their over the counter brethren hence the need for a prescription!?!? The over the counter shit doesn't work for me!!!! I need the strong stuff. Damn you!!!
Concerned reader: But Ricardo, they will still pay for some of it. It's tier 3.
Me: Doesn't matter! It's the principle of it all. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Back to the letter:
We understand that the change in the cost can be a concern. That is why we conduct a thorough review of medications.......
I think you pin up a bunch of drug names to a board and throw darts at them. Whichever one the dart hits, you cut. Lots of fun I bet!
We appreciate the opportunity to serve you and are committed to helping you make the best use of your Pharmacy benefit.
Sincerely,
Brian K.
Chief Pharmacist
You are not a chief pharmacist Brian K, YOU ARE A CORPORATE STOOGE!! You are a pawn and have insulted the very industry you claim to represent! You have the nerve to look at yourself in the mirror!!?!?! YOU FRAUD!!!!
(long pause of silence as I scan the room and look at you all)
If I were in Canada, this stuff would be next to nothing. I could get the meds I need and be done with it.
Right Wing Reader: But Ricardo Canada is a socialist place like Europe and they don't have good healthcare and people wait and wait in the emergency rooms and die. And the hospitals close on Sunday and they make you swear an oath to a bust of Stalin before an operation. You'll be sorry if you go up there!!!
Me: Hey....what about the woman who died in an emergency room RIGHT HERE in the good old US of A? What? Those were all Canadian doctors? Please.....please.
Now my issue is a far cry from what happened to that woman or people who are suffering from much more dire illnesses than I. But United Healthcare is hitting the very ill too. Go to Google and type in United Healthcare sucks and watch the complaints fill your screen. While this poor excuse for a company did not play a role in the woman's death, it does show us one thing that we all hate to admit; the healthcare system in the United States is not bastion of miracles that it claims to be.....unless you're rich.
The internet is a great place. The consumer can bite back. And I will gladly bite back and draw blood.
It's good to be the king......
Coming up....
A thanks to blogger Urban Thought.
Also....
Why is Ricardo a source of insecurity for some people in relationships? Am I a home wrecker?
And....
Flower Power: Feel force of the Schezwan button.
23 PEOPLE HAVE UNLOADED:
In the UK a prescription costs about £7 if your working no matter what it is and is free if your not or an OAP.
People can cry about socialist health-care all they want, but I for one would HATE to have the American system, its just so selfish i cant put it into words. I am far happier that my tax goes to health-care (as national insurance) than paying for wars.
Sadly though as we follow America and most of the western world to the right, increasingly people are trying to undermine the National Health service in favour of market driven corporate private health, which is in my opinion disgusting.
Medical insurance is over complicated. Nothing is standard. It's always changing.
Good rant. I assume you've seen Sicko. The whole movie has scenarios just like this (and worse), over and over.
Why does the "healthcare" industry keep pulling this shit? Because they can.
Ricardo,
I messed up. I am not writing all of it again. Long story short what would have cost me around $4,500+ in dental work in the States I had done in Guatemala for under$500!!!!!!
I had an impacted wisdom tooth that was $2,000 in the States surgically removed for $200. The Dentists had the cleanest, and most advanced offices, I've ever seen.
All the medical care here is that way. I am friends with one of the World's best plastic surgeons. He is a 3rd the price of the States. A woman can have $20,000 or more boob job for 1/3 the price. Without any scaring........He was schooled like many doctors here in the States, he then worked somewhere as the head surgeon in New York City for over 10 years.
His techniques are World famous, and they last. He hates where his discipline has gone in the States. He said they want you on a maintenance plan were you have to come back every 7 years.
On another note ALL the doctors here will write you six month scripts for whatever you need, or longer. You need to check with U.S. Customs. The quality is the same; it is the exact same medicine at fraction of the cost. Also, your average Doctors visit will cost you $25 for a real visit and diagnosis.
I give my dog Prozac. In the states the generic was running $200 a month. Here it is around $50.....same stuff.
I highly recommend it, and if your interested I'll give you an email, or you can get mine from the cruel virgin. I'll give you the details for free, and the run down on how you do it.
There are always around obstacles, fuck insurance!!!!
Peace and Freedom
Leigh my good friend, so good to see you back!! I hope all is well. Looks like LateMag is the place to be.
The US has all the cash in the world for the war in Iraq and bailing out corrupt corporate companies, but it won't lift a finger to fix this. They don't want to fix it because all these private insurance companies have pretty much paid off our politicians to look the other way. They also promote a lot of propaganda. Do you know that there are people here that think if you need medical attention and you are not in the US then you will be hacked to pieces and left for dead. Why? Because they have brainwashed people here into thinking that all healthcare systems around the world,including the UK and Canada are, at best, third world. People believe that if you get sick in the UK you will simply be left for dead because they don't have the doctors or technology available to fix something as simple as an ingrown toenail. Little do these people know that the life expectancy in your nation and Canada is HIGHER than what we have here!
Is our system selfish? You bet it is. It basically says that if you are out of work or in a job that does not provide health insurance, then you're not worthy of proper medical care. Who decided that? Private companies like United Healthcare and the rest. They will only help you if you are profitable. That's the danger your country faces if they wish to adopt this system.
And BTW, they tell these stories about how hospitals in the UK make you wait and wait to see a doctor in the event of an emergency, Well, the last 2 times I had to go to the emergency room here in the US, I was forgotten about. Once I was left in the hallway for 4 hours and another time I was left in a room and forgotten about. That was 3 hours and I was having breathing problems!!!
Marsha- You got that right but can't we have some limit on how low these companies are allowed to go? OK, we don't have to have the system in Canada or the UK but can't we have some rights as patients? Something? Anything? There has to be some standard made up sooner or later.
AHB - You give your dog Prozac? LOL! Is he OK? There's nothing worse then a depressed dog.
None of what you say shocks me. We have it built in our heads that the only good doctors are the ones here and anyone in South America can't be smart or have access to modern tools and equipment. This just ain't so. You know it, I know it, the American people do not. There are many skilled doctors all over and some of them have no interest coming here. You can really get prescriptions shipped up here from where you are? WOW! I should get myself a giant vat of Quaaludes or something. LOL!
People love those exaggerated waiting stories, Brits love to moan about our health care, but in reality if you have a real emergency you will be seen right away. I often see right wing American blogger reeling out those stories about Canadian and UK health care. Sure if you are Rich in America you can get the best health-care in the world, but then again if your rich anywhere you will be able to pay for the best.
There are waiting lists for some operations in the UK, but you have the option to go private if you really want / need to Que jump. Most of the time though, the people on the waiting list in front of you are MORE SICK THAN YOU. Selfish people just believe money should give you the right to jump the cue and no one ever thinks about the fact that it could mean someone else dies.
Is our system perfect, of course not, that would probably be the one they have in France :), but its pretty good and helps a lot of people that would otherwise really struggle and in some cases I'm sure die.
... I had no idea people gave dogs Prozac, my dog is petrified by bad weather and goes into a panic shaking and dribbling so he could probably do with anxiety treatment.
Crazy that Prozac is $200 a month ... here it would be ... you guessed it £7 ($14 although really many things are pond for dollars so $7). Also if you have something like diabetes, the cost is waved and your prescriptions are FREE.
Its good to be back Ricardo, I normally keep up with unloaded via Google reader, but I figured I should venture out of my cave and say hello.
I figured I was a bit burnt out when it came to film blogging so would expand into more randomness, not really finished building latemag, working on it slowly.
Leigh - Indeed no system is perfect but at least they are trying to help people. And the going private thing is something you will never hear the right wing bloggers mention because that does not help their case. Notice how most really just use healthcare and other "socialist" things to promote their xenophobia. Basically they just hate anyone and anything that's not "American."
Without insurance Prozac may be 200 a month but not if you have insurance. Actually, Prozac has been around for so long that you may be able to get it at 60 to 100 bucks without insurance. It would be about 20 to 40 bucks with insurance. That's my guess but I could be off. Some medications will even fetch up to 80 or 90 dollars and above with insurance. Crazy right? It's because the pharmaceutical companies overprice it and if it's a newer medication, no one else can make it. So they have a monopoly and you're screwed. I pay 15 bucks for asthma medication but without insurance it would be 175 dollars. So if I am out of work for anytime, that's what I would have to pay.
And I am damn sure that if you were gravely wounded or ill, you are getting in right away in the UK. These people try to make UK medicine sound like it's some savage entity that just kills people through neglect. It's not true. If you listen to these blog guys they will have you thinking that UK doctors don't even have the money or knowledge to operate a stethoscope.
I know all about blogging burnout and I'm glad you've continued to read up on things here. I am even more glad you've come out of the cave so to speak. I think the more encompassing scope of latemag will keep you going more than just doing films. It's hard to stay on one topic which is why I jump from topic to topic. Thank goodness people are willing to stick with me because this thing is all over the place.
Tom - I almost missed you!! I'm doing too many things at once here! I regret to say that I have not seen sicko yet. Every time I have a chance to something comes up but I can imagine it must be both funny and painful to watch all at once.
When I had surgery I had a really good experience with my insurance provider not only did they cover 100% costs they called and mailed me to check and advice me on how to go about it. My insurance company was based in the USA - since I work for an American firm - and they sent me a cheque in $s which when converted to Rupees gave me more than I had claimed :) Guess I lucked out.
you probably should watch Sicko, even if it's only to reinforce your own views because it pretty much agrees with everything you said
we're lucky in australia that our health care system is ok. stephen had wonderful care in the years he was fighting cancer and it was all totally free.
A vet once offered me parrot prozac for my neurotic rosella. I just bought him a couple of smaller birds to boss around in the aviary and he got over his neuroses soon enough :-)
I feel your frustration.
Any time they change the health coverage at my job an HR person has to come and explain it to us. It usually takes four hours. It's crazy all the stuff they through at you but claim everything has gotten better.
Oh do I miss the days when I didn't have to pay into my insurance. I wish I could go back to that job. If you are single, you still don't have to pay into it. As for the married people... not that easy.
Yes... USA's Health System is the pits.
Ricardo:
Health Care in a America is really getting worse and worse.
"why I pay bigger and bigger health insurance premiums each year but get less and less coverage!"
I have NO IDEA and I am dealing with the same thing.
Also, I cannot take the generic brands for my Crohn's medications. That alone costs me 350 PER MONTH in co-pays...WITH a prescription plan.
I cant even imagine how much they would cost if I didnt have health insurance.
Its a loose loose situation. For All Of Us.
BTW: I love your posts when you are all worked up / pissed off about something.
xxoo
SJ - Yes you did luck out and I'm not sure how the currency conversion is (the dollar is worth nothing) but if the rupee is valued lower than the dollar then this could have helped. I would never get that kind of deal here. In fact, they would try to cut me off.
Nurse - I' very glad to know that Stephen got the proper care he deserved and needed till the very end. I hate to say this but if he were here, there is a good chance the Insurance company would have cut him off or try everything they could to cover as little as possible and place the burden of expense on you. They would see him as not very profitable. Also, if he could have still worked through the illness, the employer and the insurance company together may have decided that Stephen was too "expensive" and terminate his position at work so that they would get off the hook for treating him. Employers and health insurance companies often work together to kick ill employees out of the nest. It's all about the bottom line. Sick isn't it?
Urban - Wow! What job was that where you go off paying for the insurance? That's a sweet deal and RARE! I let the changes go in one ear and out the other because it all boils down to the same thing: You will pay more for less!
Meleh - Don't you just love the whole name brand vs generic game? YOU MUST BUY THE NAME BRAND DRUG! GENERIC IS NOT AN OPTION!! WE'VE BEEN BRIBED BY THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES TO ENFORCE THIS RULE!!! YOU WILL PA, PAY, PAY!!! OUR PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY SPONSORED TRIPS TO BERMUDA DEPEND ON IT!!!
"BTW: I love your posts when you are all worked up / pissed off about something."
You like that!?!?
(clasps hands behind head and thrusts hips in and out in a lewd, inappropriate manner, then runs away)
This is unfortunately not just your problem, but America's problem. A lot of people work jobs they hate for the benefits. Lately my joy has been to try to schedule appointments for my husband and son--I have Blue Choice which is supposed to allow some freedom and Aetna for dental, but I have to go through so much bullshit just to get an appointment, see if they are a provider in the system, then get the former doctors to release their records. In the meantime, my son, MY SON! complained of chest pains yesterday. We spent a fortune last year in co pays to emergency rooms for him so I just want him to get a steady doctor and his old one won't give up the records and the new one won't see him. It's such bullshit. They claim it's the new laws--liability and all that, but I see it as a way to keep people from going to doctors, stay healthy--this way they go to emergency rooms, get stuck with bills that ruin them and the insurance companies don't pay out much. It also hurts hospitals and medical providers. The insurance companies are running the country along with the oil folk and it will be interesting to see if any of that changes in 4 years. Bush made it worse.
Ricardo,
yes I give my Sheba Prozac/deturban. She is two now, but she isn't depressed as much, but has anxiety issues.
I've had to have her stomach cut open twice in the States to remove god knows what all.
Here they just give her a pill that relaxes her to puke/poop, or whatever.
I really would encourage everyone reading this blog to check out Guatemala for anything expensive. I live there most of the time, and would help you via the net how to get around. Heck a taxi for all day in town will run maybe $15. Maybe I'll make a post.
Peace and Freedom
Don't even get me started on King George. I think it's TOTALLY ABSURD with how they are tossing your son around like a hot potato. A child with chest pain must be flat out scary. I mean it is scary enough when it happens to an adult bit with kids, it just seems worse to me. And what is this with the doctors refusing to turn over your son's records to a new doctor? Who is it hurting? Is it because your other doctor was not part of the Blue Choice (Blue Balls) network? The doctors won't play nice because ones on the "other team!?!?! What? Did they have a dispute with one another on the golf course one day and they do this to each other now? Please! This is stupid!! They are goofing off at the expense of your kid's health!! Unless your new doctor is some quack running his business out of a cardboard box in some alley, there's no excuse for this! NONE!
Nice how you're paying extra to have your husband and kid on your insurance yet can't get them to a doctor. Nice. Real nice.
AHB – Are you referring to purchasing your prescription drugs there or shooting down there to live? The issue with getting prescriptions from South America is that the news has people convinced that if you get them from anywhere but here or Canada, you don’t know what your getting, so the pounded images into peoples heads that if granny wants her arthritis medication she better get it here because the pill from South America will take her on an acid trip or kill her.
Are there shady places selling fake drugs? Sure. But if people knew where to look I bet they could avoid that. But as of now people either don’t have the savvy or are just not ready to take that leap of faith. I can understand it. No one wants get taken for a bad ride.
Sorry to hear about your dog but I’m glad she’s better. Nurse Myra was able to solve her pet problems by getting her bet some other pet friends.
"(clasps hands behind head and thrusts hips in and out in a lewd, inappropriate manner, then runs away)"
HA HA HA HA HA HA
On a serious note whenever I have used the generic medications my symptoms have NOT improved. As soon as I coughed up the $ for NAME BRAND meds = Cured.
(unless I am under alot of stress)
Ricardo,
I am saying the medical care I've gotten here is the best I've ever gotten!!!
I am saying to "shoot" down here for your meds. I would suggest checking with customs, but I believe you can come back with 6 months worth of meds. I have never had a problem with any of the meds. They are top notch. You can even get second, and third generation antibiotics over the counter.
Any doctor will write you a script for what you need. They'll put all the appropriate stamps, and duration of said prescription on the script..........You hardly need a prescription....They do control class 3 narq. here, but Xanex, Valume, Prozac, antibiotics, and god knows whatever else. I know they have that allegra here, and there is something better.
Between you, and a letter from a friend post. I made my current post about a condition that I have, and well if you want, then you can go read there.
Enemy of The Republic has my email address ask her for it. I will be happy with a list of the name brand, and Generic names(both) to see what is available, and costs. Considering a ticket; I think it is still worth it. I priced a ticket to Vancouver, B.C., and it was only $800 with taxes.....I guess what I am saying is that, if your going to take a vacation anytime soon, then I'll at the least show you the ropes. No one was around to show me the ropes. If your interested drop me a line, or check out "The Revue" in La Antigua, Sacatepequez, Guatemala.
Fake medicine here, or any of Latin America will get the pharmicists throat slit. I am very serious about that. So, I will guarantee the meds are 100%.
Peace and Freedom
The
Meleah - This does not bode well for generic drugs. I thought they were the same. It's a shame that you have to pay so much for name brands. They gouge you. They don't need to charge that much.
AHB - I will be right over. I'm not shocked that you had good medical care. They did a great job with the teeth in that picture you put up. Those are movie star teeth.
i had two impacted molars last year and went to my local dentist and he laughed and told me to go home and take anti-inflammatories for a couple of days before coming back and paying him $4500 to have them capped. he refused to pull them.
thankfully i have a high pain threshhold and so i rode my bike to the hospital.
i figured they would pull the teeth, as i was in severe pain(i read the pain chart in the nurse`s station that tells them who`s in what kind of pain....) even though i had tears running down my face as i waited the doctor gave me a shot......and i went home.
the teeth are still in my head and the infection went down because of the oregano oil i took for almost week.
so much for socialised medicine.
i remember the teeth my dad has from the nhs. they were someone elses and barely fit in his mouth. he fought in two wars and kept the turks and greeks apart for three years on cyprus and they couldn`t even give him teeth that fit.
fuckers.
my answer is don`t get sick.
train hard, eat correctly and stay away from hospitals and doctors.
and insurance companies.
Dr.A those are some horrible stories. Seems like each system has their fair share. I'm so fed up with insurance companies I would still try my hand at the medical system in Canada. Have you got by well enough with it? Any experiences? I hear it's not too bad at all.
Well, I have AETNA. And my husband takes an epilepsy medication for chrissakes, and there is NO generic alternative. And my plan has that as a tier three too, so we are paying $50 a MONTH for his medications. We have no choice! I could use so many swear words thinking about this but I will spare you.
Manager Mom - Are you kidding me!?! What twisted logic did the clowns at AETNA use to slip that by? Seizers are no joke! $50!?!?! It's sick!!! And there is no over the counter stuff for that.
Swear all you want here. I did in my rant. LOL!
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