Insurance

[Guest guest]

I so agree with you Carl, the insurance companies have had their way with us for

far too long. Right after they announced the changes, I was watching another

show that said the insurance companies were going to get around that by refusing

to write policies for certain groups, including children. I think a little jail

time would really do them a lot of good for pulling something like that. They

have already started to jack up the prices they charge, in advance of the Obama

plan kicking in. Doctors are doing likewise, from what I have read.

Now that is downright mean and ugly. Who makes the most money? The insurance

companies and big Pharma, but they show us no mercy. A few companies like

Novartis do help needy patients, but for some when you apply, the bar is so high

that it is not worth the paper it is written on. When I applied for help with

Nexium, I had to wait until November and then they would charge me $25

co-payment, which was about what I was already paying. I would be saving so

little for a month, it wasn't worth all the forms I had to fill out and get the

doctor to sign. The next year would begin the process all over again. I finally

stopped taking Nexium, it was just one more drug I wanted to see if I could do

without. So far I am not having a problem, and its been 2 years since I took

that little purple pill.

I'm wondering if anyone else had a similiar experience when applying for

assistance. Now when I apply for help with medicine, if I have Plan D, I am

automatically disqualified, right at the top of the page, so at least I don't

have to fill in the forms and then send it in to find out I am not eligible.

I was supposed to get assistance from one company, but it put me in the donut

hole and my co-pay was $1700. How they can get into my insurance account and

charge without my knowledge, I don't know, but they got their medicine back, I

refused it.

Honestly, from what I have experienced, I think you have to be homeless and not

earn a red cent to qualify for some of these so called patient assistance

programs. That in itself is good, but they set the bar too high for some or

most of us to benefit from their benevolence. When this company agreed to " give "

it to me after I appealed my case, my old oncologist refused to sign the papers,

he wanted me to go to " that place in Houston where I go " . Now that was uncalled

for and the straw that broke the camel's back. I found another oncologist, but

I had to go out of town.

The problem I now have is that if I am hospitalized, he is the guy who will be

on my case at the hospital. I now hope I have time to get to the hospital out

of town to see my own oncologist. I could turn him in, but he will still be the

doctor they will call if I go to the hospital. The way I see it, we still have

a long way to go. Maybe we could have a different policy once we contract

cancer, so we will be treated equally for the disease whether we have money or

not and not be limited because we have Plan D. We are not on welfare and we do

pay a lot for insurance and takes a big chunk out of our SS checks.

On another note, doctors don't keep secrets better than lay people. The

doctors that knew I changed oncologists wanted to know why and kept plying until

I told them. They said they wouldn't tell anyone, but within a week that doctor

had changed his tune and started talking to us again, like we were long lost

friends. Now even the medical profession knew about his behavio and he was

shamed. When he refused to sign the papers, I brought them to my family doctor,

who then called the oncologist with my permission. That really pissed him off

even more and it got nastier. He became angry when I went to MDACC and never

got over it, but that was in 2000. All the people I met in his office with CML

have all died and I am the last survivor of my group who were patients when I

was there. Who is the nerd here and who is getting the last laugh?

Carpe diem,

Lottie Duthu