I am frustrated beyond the pale, once again due to health insurance. I received a letter (late on a Friday, of course) stating that a drug I take is no longer going to be covered. Just great! About 3 years ago they made me try the generic version. I am all for taking a cheaper version of a drug, if it works, but it did not work for me. I had all kinds of side effects, and lasted only a month. My doctors and I had to jump through all the hoops the insurance company put in front of us, and finally they allowed me to stay on the name brand drug.
In this letter they assured me that I could take the generic version, which I cannot do. So I had to wait the weekend, and then call them on Monday morning. At that point they told me that my doctor could fill out a Coverage Exception form to try to get the drug covered – but since the letter said it is effective on April 1st, they cannot send it in until March.
WTF? You send me a letter at the end of January saying that you are no longer going to cover my expensive drug, but I can’t even do anything about it yet? So I just have to stress over this for 2 more months, and then I can see if I can get the drug covered.
I do not like it, but I do understand that they can make this decision. What I don’t understand is that I can’t even try to change your mind until the month before this is effective. I sometimes honestly feel that the insurance company is trying to kill me with the stress they put me through. I guess they would be better off if I were dead – they wouldn’t have to pay anything for me any longer. On the other hand, they will no longer get a premium for me. But I guess they don’t care. They collected massive amounts of money for me when I was healthy until my 50s, so now they just want me gone.
I have looked around a little to see what my options are, and they are not great. The cheapest I have found to get this drug is $2500/month. This is not really do-able. So I am up in the air about this for several more months.
I think the worst thing is that, in the letter, the company makes it very clear that whatever drugs I take is between me and my doctor. Of course, if my doctor and I decide that this is the best drug for me, they won’t pay for it. But I guess that is my problem.
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