More numbers
Last night on my way home from work I stopped at the pharmacy to pick up the last prescription refills that will be paid for by my insurance. I asked the pharmacist how much they would've been if I were paying for them out-of-pocket and found out it's even more than I thought. Today, I paid $45. If I refill the same prescriptions next month, it will cost me a whopping $385. That's more than an 800% increase, folks.
An eight HUNDRED percent increase.
The most expensive part of that by far is the test strips for my meter, which I'm pretty sure I can find online for less than the pharmacy charges. How often to test is a matter of much debate in the T2 community, but I like to test at least three or four times a day, or even more than that if something unusual is going on (new food, I get sick, etc.). With my current insurance, it's been costing me about 7 cents per test; with the new insurance, it will be anywhere between about 65 cents and $1.50 per test.
The result, of course, is that I'll be cutting way back on my testing. If I scale back to just one test a day I can make this latest refill last through the end of the year, and then the next time I buy them, at least the cost will go toward my deductible. For me, this is probably okay. For someone who needs to test a lot to keep from crashing and dying, it could be a real hardship.
All I keep thinking is, I'm so glad I'm not really sick! Although I guess if I were, that's about the only time I would get anything out of this new insurance .... Or at least that's what they've told us. Hopefully I will remain lucky enough never to have to jump through those particular hoops.
In other news, I have a new nephew, born yesterday. No name yet but I saw the pictures and he is, as you would expect, adorable. I'll meet him in October when I go back to Utah for my dad's 70th birthday party.
An eight HUNDRED percent increase.
The most expensive part of that by far is the test strips for my meter, which I'm pretty sure I can find online for less than the pharmacy charges. How often to test is a matter of much debate in the T2 community, but I like to test at least three or four times a day, or even more than that if something unusual is going on (new food, I get sick, etc.). With my current insurance, it's been costing me about 7 cents per test; with the new insurance, it will be anywhere between about 65 cents and $1.50 per test.
The result, of course, is that I'll be cutting way back on my testing. If I scale back to just one test a day I can make this latest refill last through the end of the year, and then the next time I buy them, at least the cost will go toward my deductible. For me, this is probably okay. For someone who needs to test a lot to keep from crashing and dying, it could be a real hardship.
All I keep thinking is, I'm so glad I'm not really sick! Although I guess if I were, that's about the only time I would get anything out of this new insurance .... Or at least that's what they've told us. Hopefully I will remain lucky enough never to have to jump through those particular hoops.
In other news, I have a new nephew, born yesterday. No name yet but I saw the pictures and he is, as you would expect, adorable. I'll meet him in October when I go back to Utah for my dad's 70th birthday party.
1 Comments:
I'm glad that there's some good news at the end of this post. Welcome to your new nephew!
I've already ranted about the state of the U.S. health care system, so you know that I am livid to hear about that 800% increase. It's criminal.
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