health care / pharmacy plans

I did a five year course of allergy shots starting seven years ago. But my symptoms soon got worse after I stop and I decided to start a new course last September.

The last time I always knew that the clinic had EpiPen's just in case I went into shock during my 30 minutes wait. But this time the allergy clinic's doctor wrote me a prescription and I had to go by and EpiPen just in case I went into shock after 30 minutes, or chose not to wait 30 minutes as most of their patients now do. My co-pay was $300, and the official expiration date on the pan is only a year. So at face value this appears to be an extra $1500 expense for a five year course of something that was supposed to be fully covered!

My doctor told me that with liquid medicines you shouldn't use past the expiration date as it could become harmful. With solid medicine the only thing that happens is maybe lose some of its potency but rarely goes rancid.

As for expensive medicines it's always good to check the manufacturer's website for discounts. One medicine I take was costing me $60 for a 90 day supply. I was told to check the manufacturers website by a hospital pharmacist who had visited me one hospital stay. Well I did, and I wish I had sooner. That $60 was reduced to $5 for the same pills/supply. I got a code to give my local drug store and they entered it into the system on my account. Now it's $5 a pop, much easier to live with.

One owns his own compounding shop and the other one worked for one of the big pharmacies, CVS or Walgreens, I can’t remember. I learned a long time ago that if you wanted to talk to someone about drugs, the pharmacist is the go to person. Doctors know which drugs to prescribe for various ailments, but the pharmacist is the person who really knows how they work and why they work. I was in a conversation with one of the guys that I know and mentioned that I was taking some type of statin drug. He looked at me and asked if I was taking CoQ10 to which I replied, ‘No, what’s CoQ10?’ He then informed me about CoQ10 and if my doctor had told me to take it. I said that he hadn’t and he said that wasn’t surprising, most doctors don’t. He then went on to say that when you take a statin it deprives your body of a certain enzyme that your body needs and that is why you should take CoQ10. I have asked pharmacists in the past about cold medications, nasal decongestants, etc. and I have always found that these people know what they are talking about. Look at it this way; a doctor spends 4 years in med school learning about the human body with some pharmacology courses thrown in. The next 4 years is training and advanced learning. A pharmacist spends 4 years learning about drugs, how they react and the contraindications of certain drugs with other drugs. A doctor may prescribe something for me, but if I really want to know how it works and its side effects, I will ask a pharmacist every time.

@maddog: Does this pharmacist have a supplement brand he trusts? Many supplements, vitamins, etc. sold over-the-counter do not match what's on the label. Many people think the FDA regulates vitamin pills and supplements, but this is not true, at least not unless the seller overreaches on medical claims for the benefits. What the FDA does not do is regulate the accuracy of the labels of supplement pill bottles. When somebody like 60 Minutes has laboratories investigate various brands of vitamin pills and dietary supplements, generally, it's a big miss. Customers may be getting different levels of CoQ10 than what's on the label or other ingredients partially or even entirely, and there's no regulatory consequence for this breach of trust. This is why some doctors buying over-the-counter dietary supplements is a waste of money.

…I will ask him. (If I don’t forget.)

The way health insurance started in the US was bizarre. When gearing up for WWII production we had a shortage of labor. Companies competed with one-another by offering higher and higher salaries. The government eventually stopped that by making salary competition (in war support industries only?) illegal. Companies obeyed the letter of the law but not it’s spirit by competing with health insurance offerings instead. I’ve no idea of what passed for health insurance then.

What I do know about early health insurance is that it’s structure and intent was to provide shared risk. After a while they morphed into financial corporations whose purpose was to make profits and incidentally dabble in health insurance.

The drug business is one of the biggest scams around. And the insurance industry is getting their cut too.

What is the difference in brand and generic? Ask the CEO who makes EPIPEN. When she was on TV, she said that they would be making a generic. Asked, what is the diff? ANSWER, Nothing, it just goes thru different channels.

That means the many ppl who have their hands greased by every drug sale and do absolutely nothing, don't get to dip in the pot.

Wife went to renew her script after the first of the year. It was 3 times what is was the previous year. She told them she wasn't paying that. They ran THEIR discount card thru the system and it ended up less than it was the prior year, and less than here RX card gave her.

My copay at Kroger went from $10. to $24. I walked away. I called Walmart. Of course, they can't tell you what it will cost until they run your insurance, so I ask, what is your retail? $10. I called the insurance co and asked what my copay was at Walmart. $24. REALLY! So, why do I have insurance if I can buy it for $10. w/o insurance?

Shopping around save money! YMMV no YMWV!

The medicine that Dad needed was a lot less just buying it directly and without insurance or copay UNFORTUNATELY the nursing home wouldn't allow it. We had to get it from them and pay the copay at a huge increase in cost.

I use Qunol which is often mentioned on websites, which of course should be used with care. It is pretty reasonable at BJ’s. And yes my DR recommended it, as well as Vitamin K2 (for an elderly man).

https://www.verywellhealth.com/best-coq10-supplements-756553...

Of when the vet's office was bought out by the national co.

I guess some of the vets didn't get the memo about profit margins being maintained.

A vet asked me do you want a rx so you can get this filled at Walmart? It would only be $4 there, where we would charge you $36.

I said for the same thing? She said yes, it's the same for humans and dogs.

Well, she was wrong, Walmart charged $6. And the bottle had my dog's name and said "canine."

I guess doctors aren't supposed to be "helping the patients and their owners to save money." Because next time we went for a visit, that vet was no longer employed at the vet's office.

I'm old enough to remember pill cutters and doctors prescribing a dosage 2X what the patient really needs, to save the patient money, since an x days supply costs the same, no matter what the dosage.

I would understand today if a doctor doesn't do that any longer. That behavior eats into insurance profits.

Let's face it, anyone who has worked in insurance knows there are campaigns to reduce "loss" or "payouts."

my doctor told me about CoQ10 and statins

went to get an ultrasound on Friday, only 1, $40.

I had 3 in 2022, $1,200, and would have been $40 if I had waited.

I guess the older I get and the more games that are played, I want a simple $0 deductible, 0% coinsurance, and low copays.

Ours are $20/$40/$75/$100--doctor, specialist, urgent care, emergency

Our friend's is $10/$15/$15/$125--this all shapes behavior.

He and his wife and baby go to urgent care since it's only $15. I avoid that at all costs. Nothing like going to see someone who never went to medical school and has no MD, I don't care if it would be only $15. Ours is $75 for urgent and $100 for emergency so other than time, go to emergency if needed.

Why I say I'd rather have a $0 deductible 0% coinsurance plan as I age? A hip replacement is $40, brain surgery $40, heart surgery $40. No need to play the how much do I pay game....I learned a lesson for life walking in for ultrasounds Dec. 2022, and getting a $1200 bill. And that was with insurance that cost me $650/mo and 80% coinsurance, terrible after some huge deductible