With all of E's various medical stuff, we never leave home without a mini-pharmacy. With the new job came new insurance, and the need to start over with a new pharmacy. In addition, several of his regular meds have been changed. So over the last few weeks I've made several trips to the pharmacy. My first thoughts, in filling all of these prescriptions at once, was holy heck this is costing me a small fortune!!!! But the thought that came in shortly after that was thank goodness for insurance, as I realized just what the retail cost of these meds add up to. Just for grins...this is a one month supply of meds for E - my copay - and the retail cost:
Xyzal Solution copay $35 retail $279.59
Mometasone (Elocon) copay $10 retail $ 54.96
Triamcinolone copay $10 retail $ 24.09
Advair 250/50 copay $25 retail $232.99
Advair 100/50 copay $25 retail $193.99
Patanol copay $25 retail $111.99
Proair Inhaler copay $25 retail $ 39.99
Patanase copay $35 retail $ 94.99
and the Epi-Pens copay $25 retail $130.99
So I got $1,163.58 worth of meds for $215. And in one month, I have to go back and refill most of them (all but the Advair, which will last 2 months, and the Epi-Pens, which hopefully won't be needed.)
How in the heck do people manage without insurance? It's a heck of a lot of money for me, just paying the copays. By the time things like antibiotics, oral steroids, and other meds are factored in, I spent on average $2,000-$2,400 on just E's meds each year. That's before adding in any meds for N, C, or me. But without insurance???? $1,163 is more than my house payment, and to pay that month after month? It's a thought that scares me.
My Aunt (the one who died earlier this year) couldn't afford her meds. She cut back to taking only half, or taking them every other day. Then it was a few times a week. Sometimes not at all. She wasn't being non-compliant. She just couldn't afford to fill the prescriptions. I'm sure that contributed to her death. Makes me so mad that my Dad is not taking his meds every day. Sometimes he isn't taking them for a week at a time now. But the difference between my Dad and my Aunt is that he IS being non-compliant, and he CAN afford his meds. And there is nothing I can do about it.
I visited my Dad today, and made dinner for him. (Okay, he grilled the steaks, I did everything else.) If nothing else he will have plenty of healthy leftovers to eat for the next few days. When my Mom is gone he tends to eat doughnuts for breakfast, ice cream for dinner, and a can of Vienna sausages for lunch. Is it any wonder why she worries about him? He was actually in a pretty good mood today, and it was nice to sit down and actually chat with him (as opposed to listening to him growl about whatever he is pissed off about that day.) Talked with my Mom today too - she was all excited about seeing whales, glaciers, and lots of other wonderful things in Alaska. Guess maybe they both needed this vacation.
In other news, I have an appointment set up for C with the Developmental Psychologist for testing. It's not until late October, but I was expecting that - it's always hard to get an appointment with them. The good news is that my insurance may actually cover part of the cost (still working on that end.) Since the approximate cost for testing is $1,100 that is a very good thing. The bad news is that C's daycare has been having issues with him. It seems C is trying to kiss all the girls (tried hard not to laugh when they told me this - it seems I have a real ladies man!) But, the bigger issue is that he isn't recognizing personal space. He gets right in kids faces. He touches (not inappropriate touching, just hugs, grabs an arm, rub someone on the head sort of thing.) He just cannot keep his hands to himself. I'm not sure if that was behind the sudden rash of injuries, but just last week he was kicked in the stomach one day, and the next day came home with a long fingernail scratch from his eye clear down to his chin.
When the Developmental Psych office called, I was at work. I thought about calling them back, but we had been playing phone tag and I really wanted to get the appointment set up. So they went through the standard list of questions, then suddenly asked if C's Dad was part of his life. So I explained that C is donor conceived and therefore has no Dad. It wasn't until after I hung up that I realized that since I work in a cubicle, I pretty much just announced that to the office. Sigh...those are the times I wish I had an office. With a door.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Wow. Thank Gawd for my HMO too. That's a pretty penny for meds, but a nice savings when you look at it side by side.
Sorry to read about C having issues at school (but kissing all the girls IS kind of funny). I hope you get some answers with the testing and perhaps with treatment (MORE to add to your mini-pharmacy, probably) things could get better quickly.
Darn those cubicles!
For most stuff, uninsured folks get the $4 list meds from walmart or wherever. Most classes of med (aside from high-powered antibiotics and chemo and probably some other things I'm blanking on) are available. But, the kicker is, either their provider has to volunteer to write them $4 meds or they have to ask - if they have the provider write whatever's "best" it may well be super-expensive (no one tells providers what drugs cost, unless they do their own research.) But generally the $4 stuff is nearly/entirely as good, but not the newest/sexiest thing.
For instance, my lovenox is $1030 a month (before insurance) - but if uninsured I could take heparin for $20ish a month. It's two sticks a day instead of one, and requires occasional monitoring, but works just as well.
I wonder if this touching stuff has something to do with C's favorite way of annoying E - remember you wrote about it couple of weeks ago? He is provoking them.And the easiest way to annoy little girls is to attempt "kissing." But what is he trying to tell us? And why?
Nah - C isn't trying to irritate his friends (most of the time, at least.) He has always been this way - it has just intensified lately. He just literally cannot keep his hands (and feet) to himself. N was the same way at this age.
Post a Comment