Posted on 03/22/2014 9:03:17 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Breast cancer survivor Ginny Mason was thrilled to get health coverage under the Affordable Care Act despite her pre-existing condition. But when she realized her arthritis medication fell under a particularly costly tier of her plan, she was forced to switch to another brand.
--snip--
But some have been shocked at how much their prescriptions are costing as insurers are sorting drug prices into a complex tier system and in some cases charging co-insurance rates as high as 50 percent. That can leave patients on the hook for thousands.
"I was grateful for the Affordable Care Act because it didn't turn me down but ... it's like where's the affordable on this one," said Mason, a 61-year-old from West Lafayette, Indiana.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
uuhhhh...if some chooses anything but the most reasonably priced option, why should the insurance money someone else pays subsidize it? People just don’t understand how insurance works.
You don’t need Death Panels when you have death policies.
The Great Man said: "Life is tough. It's tougher when you're stupid."
Easier to buy into the lies of socialized heathcare than to think about how insurance is supposed to work.
Guess we’re learning what’s in the plan...
ABC news is reporting this?
I better read the entire article...it must be her fault not Obamacare.
I do not have any insurance that covers medications and, fortunately, don’t take any meds unless there is a specific problem. Faced with upcoming eye surgery I had no choice but to get some prescriptions filled. Good grief - I thought I was going to have to sell my first born in order to pay for them.
Went on-line and found a whole slew of coupons that cut the cost almost in half and it was not for generic replacements either. There are still some options out there if people want to take the time to look for them.
“I’m Covered” folks now looking their gift horse in the mouth ..... and not liking one little bit what they find .... nope, nope, nope. The reality on the ground is a 180 from hope, hope, hope ....
...they were going to tax someone else behind the tree."
If one has a CHOICE for a more reasonably priced drug, you're exactly right.
Not everyone has a CHOICE, sometimes there really is only one option or one class of options when that person requires a drug that's still covered by a medical patent that hasn't gone generic yet.
Many cancer and biologic drugs fall into that category and that's what insurance is for. Insurance is about risk pooling and the insurer has to manage their costs effectively for everyone covered by a policy and risk pool to get the treatment and medications they need while still making a profit.
http://www.canadapharmacyonline.com/DrugInfo.aspx?name=Celebrex0225
I’ve been buying generics from Canada at a fraction of the price.
The entire “insurance” model needs another look. Drugs and medical treatment are not expensive because some people don’t have “insurance.” They are expensive because some people DO have “insurance.” “Insurance” now means that those who don’t pay for it subsidize those who do. In the end the current definition of “insurance” harms everybody.
In the last few weeks I've been in the ER and to three doctors offices due to a shattered elbow. At my GP's office and two Orthopaedic doctors offices they all had big signs saying "We do NOT accept Covered Illinois" (ObamaCare)
In Illinois, thousands of doctors were listed as "in network" for "Obamacare" without those doctors ever being contacted. I've been with the same GP and Orthopaedic doctor for years and know both really well. They both complained about the number of calls they get and arguments that ensue between their schedulers and callers because they're on a list they never asked to be a part of.
Liberals lied, sick people died.
I commented before on the same thing happening in California .... and the insurance companies dragging their feet on removing docs from networks when they don’t sign contracts to make the networks look better ..... interesting to hear that it’s happening in Illinois as well.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3134916/posts?page=6#6
So very sorry about your elbow .... “shattered” sounds bad, hope it heals up quickly and without complication! ~Q
Yup, those of us with insurance are subsidizing those who do not. We're also subsidizing Obamacare.
Thanks. Cast comes off Monday. Doc to evaluate where I am, hopefully cast stays off and I can start re-hab.
You might be subsidizing charity care, but otherwise you can't subsidize folks without insurance who pay their own way.
You need to start reading the posts on market-ticker.org about the scam that is our current medical insurance setup. A hospital might charge $800 for a set of tests, the insurance company negotiate it down to $400, but if you'd gone around the corner to the private lab you might pay $80. So your insurance company charged you $320 over the going price just to make your paperwork go away.
The big scam is that government allows monopoly pricing and hidden pricing in the medical industry, and tries to funnel everything through the insurance company so they maintain their profits.
That is not actually correct. If you are "self-pay" you are charged "list price" for medical procedures and medicines.
Insurance companies commonly pay medical providers "negotiated discounts" from list prices. Those discounts are often around 40-50% of the "list price". Plus the insurance companies pay 90-120 days net.
The uninsured who actually pay their medical bills are cross-subsidizing everybody else.
If you're talking about GoodRx, I use them also but was disappointed to see they take only about $20 off a $350 Rx for my mother, and Costco's price is a little less anyway. But for one of my prescriptions, yes, they save me 80% of the cost unbelievably, which shows how much pharmacies are marking up even a common generic.
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