Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Score!

Good Dr - 1! Health Care Insurance - 0!

I take two different prescription drugs for the Fibromyalgia. The first is an anti-inflammatory called Celebrex and the second is for pain, Lyrica. Up until 2010, my mail order costs were $30 for 90 days worth of Celebrex, which I took once a day and the same cost for 90 days worth of Lyrica which I took twice a day. In January, my prescription drug costs doubled to $60. I did not anticipate this and I certainly hadn't budgeted for it in my flexible spending plan for the year.

In order to afford the cost, I started taking the Lyrica only once a day. Unfortunately, this meant more symptoms. As for the Celebrex, I had no choice but to continue taking it as prescribed.

I recently saw my Good Dr and explained to him the situation. His response..."Two can play at that game" and he promptly wrote out a prescription doubling my regular dose of Celebrex to twice a day with the theory that the cost would still be only $60. I thought, you're crazy...never going to work, now I'm going to get a bill for $120. Why on earth would the cost be the same if you're doubling the dose, therefore, doubling the amount of pills they have to give me?

Imagine my surprise when my shipment arrived yesterday and they gave me 180 pills of Celebrex for $60. The same cost as 90 pills. So whether I take it once a day or twice a day the cost is the same. The difference...how the prescription was written. I was shocked and pissed off too! Are you kidding me? How much freak'n money are these companies making?

Next up, the Lyrica. The Good Dr was kind enough to give me free samples of the Lyrica he had in the office so I wouldn't have to continue taking my medication only once a day and in the meantime, he had also doubled that prescription. I'm excited to see what will happen when I mail that one in too! Lets hope it's the same!

Score one for the Good Dr!!!

To those of you that have mail order medication....talk to your Doctors. It's worth a try!

1 comment:

  1. Yep, drug companies and insurance companies are a huge joke. They are one of the top grossing industries in the US, and they make their profits by screwing everyone in the nation. It's pathetic. It probably costs 20 cents to make your pills. But since they are allowed to charge as much as they wan to 'recoup R&D costs' they can pretty much rake in the $$. Modern day capitalist scammers. Grrrr! I'm glad your doc worked with you!

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