The idle musings of a former military man, former computer geek, medically retired pastor and now full-time writer. Contents guaranteed to offend the politically correct and anal-retentive from time to time. My approach to life is that it should be taken with a large helping of laughter, and sufficient firepower to keep it tamed!
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Yes, this is just like dealing with my health insurance provider!
Stephan Pastis does it again.
Click the image to be taken to a larger version at the "Pearls Before Swine" Web page.
I went to the pharmacy to fill my prescriptions. I had been self pay before. I hand them my insurance card, and the lady types all of the stuff in. She then tells me that my new insurance won't let me get a 90 day supply, I can only get 30 days. She says "Good news, though. Your prescription is half what it was. You will have to come back in an hour so we can change the amounts." I tell her, "It's half the amount for one third of the drugs. That is a 50% increase. Just leave me as a self pay." She gats mad. "We already changed it." I say "So change it back." Then she gets upset with me because "You made me do all of that work."
Naturally the top comment on the comic is a demand for "single payer" - that is, replacing the hodgepodge of heavily-regulated "insurance" company bureaucracies with one big unregulated government bureaucracy. How exactly that's supposed to help is not clear.
And... around the beginning of August, I had my first-ever anaphylactic reaction, resulting in my first-ever ambulance ride. I got the ER doc to prescribe an epinephrine autoinjector (which he warned me was Not A Toy). The local pharmacy informed me that, with insurance, my share would be (if memory serves) $450, but without insurance it'd be $300. Yeah, that makes sense. (Then we can get into the craziness of epinephrine autoinjectors, and the instructions basically saying that taking it outdoors voids the warranty, so I guess if you have a serious allergy you're just supposed to remain indoors in the air conditioning.)
I retired in 2019 after 27 years in the teaching racket. My health insurance over those years had become more and more useless and expensive: co-pays, up-front costs, deductibles and so on. I kept only private dental and eye insurance after retiring. I even refused Medicare B, as I was and am in excellent health---I am 68 and work out every day---and so saved so far $3000.
I decided recently to go ahead and get Medicare B. But then I found out that Biden planned to require ALL Medicare recipients to get the vax. Nope. And nope.
If something happens---broken bones, cholera, the Black Death---I'll simply go to the ER, get treated, endure a hospital stay and then go home. And about that $300,000 hospital bill? Well then...they will have to come after me in court. In Oklahoma, Social Security and Teacher Retirement are not subject to garnishment and such.
I went to the pharmacy to fill my prescriptions. I had been self pay before. I hand them my insurance card, and the lady types all of the stuff in. She then tells me that my new insurance won't let me get a 90 day supply, I can only get 30 days. She says "Good news, though. Your prescription is half what it was. You will have to come back in an hour so we can change the amounts."
ReplyDeleteI tell her, "It's half the amount for one third of the drugs. That is a 50% increase. Just leave me as a self pay."
She gats mad. "We already changed it."
I say "So change it back."
Then she gets upset with me because "You made me do all of that work."
Yep, shell game is ALL most insurance is today, and the FIRST response every time is to deny service.
ReplyDeleteNaturally the top comment on the comic is a demand for "single payer" - that is, replacing the hodgepodge of heavily-regulated "insurance" company bureaucracies with one big unregulated government bureaucracy.
ReplyDeleteHow exactly that's supposed to help is not clear.
And... around the beginning of August, I had my first-ever anaphylactic reaction, resulting in my first-ever ambulance ride. I got the ER doc to prescribe an epinephrine autoinjector (which he warned me was Not A Toy). The local pharmacy informed me that, with insurance, my share would be (if memory serves) $450, but without insurance it'd be $300. Yeah, that makes sense.
(Then we can get into the craziness of epinephrine autoinjectors, and the instructions basically saying that taking it outdoors voids the warranty, so I guess if you have a serious allergy you're just supposed to remain indoors in the air conditioning.)
I retired in 2019 after 27 years in the teaching racket. My health insurance over those years had become more and more useless and expensive: co-pays, up-front costs, deductibles and so on. I kept only private dental and eye insurance after retiring. I even refused Medicare B, as I was and am in excellent health---I am 68 and work out every day---and so saved so far $3000.
ReplyDeleteI decided recently to go ahead and get Medicare B. But then I found out that Biden planned to require ALL Medicare recipients to get the vax. Nope. And nope.
If something happens---broken bones, cholera, the Black Death---I'll simply go to the ER, get treated, endure a hospital stay and then go home. And about that $300,000 hospital bill? Well then...they will have to come after me in court. In Oklahoma, Social Security and Teacher Retirement are not subject to garnishment and such.
Nah, nah, nah!