Blood products

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

When you go to VA, it's a whole new world, isn't it? When we evacuated to

Houston for Gustav, we were there for 11 days, staying with Rhonds who was kind

enough to take us in, but we soon ran out of meds. I went to MDACC for mine and

Jimmy went to VA for his. That was a lesson in Patience 101 - well more like a

zoo. Some the VA Pharmacy had and some had to be mailed, but to where, we were

in limbo.

Jimmy also carries Medicare and Blue Cross, which isn't exactly free, but he

also is registered with VA. He has to go there every 6 months. His visits are

not free, I'm sure you also have a co-pay. If he goes to a private physician

and brings them a prescription to fill, they give him an appointment to see a

nurse practioner before filling it, so they also charge for that visit, too.

Some drugs they do not fill because of the expense (name brand & doctor won't

substitute), so we end up paying full price at the drug store. He was told he

could not join Plan D if he went to VA. He doesn't like the idea of dropping VA

in case he would really need them later, but as it stands I see us throwing

money down the toilet with double charges. If they try to cram one more plan

down my throat, I will go into safe mode and just lay there. It just gets more

and more complicated.

We should be able to live comfortably, but instead living expenses are being

drained by the medical system. I am not complaining about the system itself,

only the high costs, but I do not want my medical care to be rationed, either,

so I continue to pay through the nose. I don't know what will happen with the

blood/Procrit issues until I hear that I am accepted or denied. We are all at

the mercy of some bean counters who decide who and what shall be paid, while

they continue to live unrestricted by their rules.

I was wondering if you planned on trying to get qualifed for the free of even

small co-pay for Aranesp/Procrit? Years ago when Medicare first denied it

because of a wrong billing code sent in by the office, they agreed to donate it

to me if Medicare did not pay after it was billed again. I hope the offer still

holds good, even after 10 years. LOL.

Blessings and continue to share your information with all of us, we are

dependent upon each other for that and other reasons, so we cling together in

things that matter to us most and to most of us.

Lottie