Co-pay went up $19

14 years ago

Went to order my inhaler from Express Scripts and saw that instead of $25 it's now says $60. I called right away, and after about an hour talking to Ex.Scrpts person she said that my co-pay went up and will be $44 now. Plus I will have to pay $94 for it total this month because some deductible mumbo jumbo I didn't understand. I do try to read the literature that comes with my benefit provider, but most of it goes right over my head.

We got a cost of living raise of $47 on Jan. check. I decided to put an extra $50 into savings because of it. Well, I should have kept it to help pay for my meds! Sorry, just venting.

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Comments (11)

jannie
14 years ago
Sorry about that, but really sorry your COLA won't help much.
glenda_al
14 years ago
I have to refill a prescription by Monday. Thanks for the headsup. Will see what happens with my co-pay!
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ANY 90-day fill should be cheaper than month-by-month. Check with your local pharmacy to see what their price would be on a 90-day fill before starting the mail procedure. I would save only $11 a year using mail instead of a local pharmacy -- but the retail pricing differs. If I use the local pharmacy I reach the Medicare Plan D 'donut hole' faster because their retail cost for Advair is greater. It's the total retail cost that counts towards the 'hole' (a combination of what you pay and what the insurance pays). Mail order works OK for a maintenance drug, but not well for anything else. You mail in your MD's prescription for one 90-day supply, with three refills. You just call the mail pharmacy to request the refills. My MD and his whole office of MD's refuse to phone or fax in prescriptions to Medco because they experienced too many errors. That means he must mail me a prescription, then I must mail it in. So, three to five days for me to get the prescription, another three to five for them to get it, and another five to ten for me to get the goods. Obviously, mail order doesn't work for an antibiotic -- or any prescription where the doseage changes. I feel I should support the local pharmacy that can provide what I need when I need it, even if it costs me a little more to buy my maintenance drug from them. OT: If anyone reading here takes a pill that comes in a higher dose, check to see if you can save by buying the higher dose and cutting it up. This doesn't work for capsules, but you can almost always cut a tablet in halves or even quarters with a pill-cutter. Drug pricing may also vary by quantity. Ask your pharmacist what your prescription costs if you buy a different number than your MD has initially prescribed. Figure out the cost per dose. If you can save by either of these means, you'd then have to ask your MD to agree to change the prescription. Example: I use a sleep aid, generic Ambien 5 mg. I can buy 10 mg. and cut them in half more cheaply. My MD is fine with prescribing 10 mg. Example: My DH was prescribed two 30 mg. capsules of a drug. Turns out one 60 mg. costs about a third less. You have to ASK the pharmacist and your MD. They aren't going to tell you if you don't ask. They aren't being mean, they just don't think about it!
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Also happens when you purchase from the elderly who have special tax excemptions in place. Once the county gets around to noticing that the property has sold & the new owners don't qualify...the taxes revert to normal. Also happens in a reassessment. Maybe, the mil rate hasn't gone up but the assessed value has? How assessed values are handled varies widely state-to-state, county-by-county, & town-to-town. Sometimes, a sale triggers an increase in the assessed value. The only way to know what's happening is to call the servicing company. Tricia
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Bills...higher than I thought. Fess up, what do you pay?
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Did I mention we got an energy report? We saw that our bills were comparable to the past tennants 12 month history. Our utility bill states we are using about the average amount of energy compared to other homes this size in our zip code. and the energy report came from utility company? of course your bills will be comperable. consider the source of info. utility info is biased to favor utility co. same with the audits they provide...10-15% savings max as compared to 30%+ with independent evaluation. my clients save 50% on average once my recommendations are completed and work is verified & tested. without blower door & duct testing...it is just a guess as to where the house/ducts/returns leak. air sealing is the best savings. cheap to do, immediate results..long term benefit depending upon the life of the sealant (use caulk..expands contracts unlike foams) duct sealing next best savings. average homes have 30% duct loss. a bucket of mastic & a morning spent sealing ducts also has long term benefit with immeidate results. beating the heat before it enters the house trumps changing windows & doors. awnings, plantings, and solar screens. once the heat is inside..then you pay to cool it. the down side to 'average billing' is that at the end of the averaged cycle, you pay the amount you went over the average. for some people this can be a real problem. never insulate before air sealing. insulation filters air it doesn't stop it. only foam insulation stops air leakage and insulates. not great stuff... best of luck.
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How to stop current CS for 19yr.old but pay arrears?
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As far as we know, she is not attending college. DH found her after an extensive search a couple of years ago (the mother would move everytime DH found out where they were!) and at the time she had no intentions on going to college, she was barely making the grades to pass HS. Anyway, we live in AL, the case is thru LA, and the wires always seem to get crossed on who is supposed to do what....could our local agency help us with it? like you suggested? or do we continually have to try and get some kind of info out of the LA office? We are just in a mess with all the confusion these workers seem to bring into the picture! No one wants to give us any answers, we can't afford an attorney! I'm so angry with the way the system works! Not to mention, he also has 3 kids here that he has custody of, their mother wife#2 hasn't seen them in 2 years and is not made to pay a dime in support or medical and will not ever pay if she can help it. The way the system works, she never will! But, of course, if they had to try, that would mean that they would have to take time away from their manhunt for all the so-called "deadbeat dads" of the country to even begin to fathom the idea of there being a deadbeat mother out there! Heaven forbid! Sorry, just so disappointed in the way things are going with our situation right now! We have no money for an attorney, so I am trying to find out all we can do for free, which is: stop current CS and get the arrears paid, get bio-dad of the child he has legal guardianship over to pay CS, get the mother of all 3 to pay CS, get them all to help with the medical or something, geez!!! He/we raise them, emotionally and financially, the BM#2 (and bio-dad of the girl for whom we are legal guardians) are allowed to come and go and call as they please, but they want nothing more than contact, no obligations and so far they have not been made to have any! Ooops, this has turned into a horrible rant, I apologize.
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wanda_va
14 years ago
Our prescription copay went from $70 per script to $95. And we supposedly have the best coverage--the same plan as Congress. But our premiums went down about $3 per month.
susanjf_gw
14 years ago
so srry for you...was in line today for dh's niaspan ($100)and some man had to leave his meds because the co-pay was $126...he had to leave with just his 3 remaining pills...the pharmacy was telling him some of the ins co are now asking higher co-pays since the year change...told him to go home and call them...

it's so scary...dh is just a year away from 65, and as much as he wants to retire, i don't know how he can...
schoolhouse_gw
Original Author
14 years ago
Oh susanjf, I had the same experience once at the pharmacy. I so wanted to pay for the person's medication. He was an older man and just the look on his face made me so sad. I consider my self extremely lucky to have the retiree benefit insurance I have, at least so far. That could change any day too for all I know.
iowagirl2006
14 years ago
No prescription coverage and about a $5000 deductable here. Heath insurance sucks!
fran1523
14 years ago
Health insurance may be awful, but consider the alternative.
sjerin
14 years ago
The alternative is a national plan similar to Canada's. Much, much cheaper as there is no middle man driving huge profits.
kudzu9
14 years ago
I agree with sjerin....many other countries have demonstrated that there are alternatives to the broken and mystifying health care system in this country. Politicians keep collecting money from the lobbyists while maintaining we have the best health care system in the world. The modest changes that were made to our healthcare system in 2010 will provide some help to some people, but we've got a long way to go before most people get a fair shake.
beth4652
14 years ago
Be careful what you wish for. The grass is not always greener on the other side.
roco0101
14 years ago
$19.00 and now you have to pay $44.00? Be thankful you even have insurance of whatEVER sort.

DH did a print out the other day of what our insurance covered for us last year, AFTER our $5,000.00 deductible.

$188,285.97. I'm not real good with numbers but that seems pretty close to 200 grand. That's more than my house is worth. Hopefully, this year won't include a stroke, a flight for life and some cancer surgery.

I detest insurance companies on a whole (no offense intended to anyone) but, without that, you'd be paying my welfare, food stamps, housing, etc.

All you may hear about Canada's "free" health care....check out their taxes and cost of living. By the time you get to see a doctor, your sore throat will either be gone or you're in stage 4 of cancer.

Just sayin'.

Co-pay went up $19

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Co-pay went up $19

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