I recently went to the doctor for my yearly exam and on the first round everything looks good. I just have to wait for the results of my Pap Smear to come back and I am praying that my results are normal or negative or whatever it means to not have to go back because something is wrong. I had a few pieces of news that ranged from good to bad as follows:
Great news: The copay for visiting the doctor is going to be reimbursed by the Flexible Savings Account where I am putting in money pretax to help pay for my medical needs.
Good news: Everything looks good so far and surgery incisions have healed nicely. (thanks to the VERY expensive Mederma ointment that I rub on them every day).
Strange news: I might have had the H1N1 virus commonly known as the Swine Flu about three weeks ago. At the beginning of October I came down with flu symptoms and have had an ongoing cough. The cough stays a few days then stops a few days and comes back again. When the doctor listened to my lungs he said they sounded clear and since I coughed up clear mucus and did not have a fever he did not think that I had an infection so I did not need antibiotics.
Bad news: He switched me to a new birth control pill (WHY??????) and this one is THREE times the cost of what I was on before….and there is apparently no generic.
HUH?
I am calling the office back to see if I can get switched back because I like what I am currently on and the new pill contains higher doses of hormones. If I have been doing fine on my current type for over a year I do not see any reason to just switch…and to go to something that is so much stronger. Here is a cost comparison of the pills:
As you can see the one month supply for the proposed pill is almost the same as the three month supply of the current prescription. The three month supply is more than what I have put into my FSA even after increasing the amount as I thought I was going to stay on the same prescription.
Grrr!!!!!
Don’t you love it when they switch your meds? I’ve been in the process of shopping for insurance plans this last week and even teh PPO plans seem to cover very little for their exorbitant cost.
Yup, having your meds switched is such a nuisance. It just so happens that they are never changed to cheaper ones. I’m not a big fan of saving money on your health, but with meds, it’s really important to look for a reasonable alternative, especially with my home budget.
this is why I hate going to the doctor’s. Me and my girlfriend have recently been to the doctor’s too and he gave her probably the most expensive birth control pills available on the market… I’m starting to suspect that they are given extra money for that…
Did she try to get him to change them back? She should go back and ask why the change was made and maybe he will give her something else.
ahhh why did the doctor change your meds?? how troublesome! hopefully he’ll allow you to change it back! it’s really nice to have a great insurance plan that will allow you to just pay a small copay fee.
I did an update to this and yes he did change me back. Whew!!!
Yes, I don’t blame you at all.
Why your doctor switched your medication any way? I think you should ask him if you can switch back to the one you used to. Or switch to another one that fits your budget.
It’s costly meds compare to existing. Ask doctor for alternate option or no more costly meds.
I’ve been thinking: Isn’t it odd how we comparison shop for so much, but we never know the costs of health care procedures and treatments? How come I don’t know the cost of a test or an office visit? Why do I hesitate to ask “Why?,” “How much?” and “Is it necessary?” I got a kick out of this fun, short video. Check it out. It makes you wonder why our health care system is set up the way it is.
What do you think?