Good morning! I had another rough day and night yesterday…sigh, I hope things go more smoothly today. I did manage to get a little work done on Monday and plan on working 2 hours today too.
Today’s Topic: How many of you take prescription medicine? For those who do and for those who take a lot of it on a consistent basis…you already know how damn expensive it is. Yes, I know some do all natural treatments but for many of us, that just is NOT possible. For myself, my prescription medications cost us well over $900 a month (out of pocket) and my hubby’s is close to $400 a month (out of pocket). Yes, I am grateful we have insurance but damn…even our out of pocket expenses for these medications is way too high and out of control. I know it costs millions of dollars to come up with a new medication & drug makers need to make back that initial investment…but once that has happened prices should drop like hot tamales…but they don’t. This one medication that I take called Zofran (I take it to control stomach upset) costs almost $300 a month…yes a month & it is a MUST HAVE medication for me. Nothing else works! It has been out on the market for years now but yet…still costs an arm & a leg. With Obamacare, I have personally seen our co-pays, premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses triple over the past 2 years which really irks me off. Sigh!!! You can’t afford to be sick!
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I take meds everyday as does my husband. I have found oftentimes the drs have no clue what the drugs cost when they prescribe them. In many instances an older drug thats covered will do the same as something new on the market that is 10x the cost. Where I have had problems is for example before I had a recent gall bladder surgery. The Dr gave me a very expensive prescription before I went in for an ultrasound to diagnose my gall bladder. I ended up only taking maybe 4 pills out of the 30. Money straight down the drain.
Healthcare is out of control and dont even get me started on Obamacare I know people who are choosing not to enroll because its 3x the cost and they have less benefits than they did with their employer.
I totally agree with you Ellen! I hate 90% of what Obamacare is about! Ever since that passed in Congress my co-pays, premiums and deductibles have tripled. Reason? Those of us who pay for insurance have to pay more to help cover the costs of the uninsured or underinsured. ugh!!!
It is out of control but what Obama should of done is gotten on the insurance companies, hospitals, big medical providers, drug makers, etc. to cap costs & to reduce costs….not force people to get insurance. You have to make it more affordable for everyone…not just the lower class of people! Why should I pay out the ass to cover someone who doesn’t have insurance? That isn’t fair!
I don’t understand how prescriptions are so expensive in the US. I cannot blame Obamacare, because prescriptions in the US have “always” been at least 50% more expensive than in Europe. I stock up when we are in Greece; I’m lucky we go there twice a year. I think it more likely that it is the big pharm lobbies in Washington that work with the insurance lobbies to allow them to charge so much. Not sure exactly how, but you’ve made me want to find out and I am going to read up on this today! And see if there is anything being done or something an individual can do to help change the system….
My dog has to have a drop in her eye two times a day for the rest of her life. Those drops are EXPENSIVE if I don’t buy them lil 12 refills at a time (but still expensive that way too). UGH.
Congrats to the winners. Always nice to win. 🙂
It’s sickening, aggravating, and revolting how much it costs for health. From doctors to meds, the prices are unbelievable. There are medicines out there that costs thousands of dollars. My doctor was recommended it, but the doctor knew we couldn’t afford it. Thankfully, there was another option – while not as strong – still the doctor thought it would work. Insurance doesn’t cover everything and often what it does cover still leaves you with a whopping bill. Then you have the added stress of trying to pay added to your already sick condition. I hate seeing commercials for medicines, too. Talk to your daughter about this drug…we can’t even afford the ones we have to take now!
The pharmaceutical companies are making a great deal of money and don’t care who can’t afford drugs. Obamacare (which is less than a year old) doesn’t go far enough , but it was almost impossible to get this program passed because most of the Reublicans didn’t want it. If we didn’t have insurance we couldn’t pay for all the drugs we need.
It is a real sin, that in this country, people have to go without medication. Sometimes it comes right down to pay the rent, buy food, or get your meds. My mom just got out of the hospital after spending all of March there – and came home with FOURTEEN!!!! prescriptions. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle-class cannot afford to live.
I have to take a lot of meds because of my Lupus and over half of them don’t have generics. Even with insurance my meds alone cost us over $500 a month! If we didn’t have insurance I might die because we simply couldn’t afford them, heck we do without so much to afford them now.