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Post by weebitty on Aug 19, 2009 23:07:41 GMT -5
articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/08/18/The-Generic-Drug-RipOff.aspx I have put this on here because I know some of you have mentioned the price of your drugs your family needs. Here is a way to say your peace to your congressmen. I know that my husband is out of his perscription allowance for the rest of the year. If we can't get samples from our doctors my husband would have to do without his advair which is 303.00 a piece. Ridiculous. It is because he was in the hospital this year as well and all the medicine they gave him. But it would be nice to finally put pressure on these %#*#*. I believe in free enterprise but these drug companies gouge people which is suppose to be unlawful. That isn't free enterprise. This article is good about explaining how the system works which I wasn't aware of all the rules and regulations etc. thanks weebitty
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Post by Organized Chaos on Aug 20, 2009 11:08:39 GMT -5
Here's how I feel about this. To hell with healthcare reform. The Govt. has no business running healthcare. What they do need to reform is the way companies involved with the field treat us.
Pharmaceuticals are out of control. EVERYTHING is turned into a disease these days just so they can come out with a drug you supposedly need to take for the rest of your life. They charge ridiculous, unaffordable prices for their drugs. Most of them with worse side effects than the condition you suffer from. They are the epitome of greed in this country.
Next comes insurance companies. I don't have to describe why they need to be more heavily regulated. Denied coverage, denied claims. They act as gods deciding who gets benefited and who doesn't.
Hospitals & Dr.'s who order every expensive test in the book for you. Many you don't even need. I suppose in some instances they're only covering their butts in fear of a lawsuit, but for the most part they're just ripping off the patient. And also the cost of the most basic medical items in a hospital and everything associated with a hospital stay or an ambulance ride. Years ago when I had kidney stones, I ended up paying $500 for a 30 minute ambulance ride and all they administered was an IV with saline. I ended up with stones again a week or 2 later and suffered through a car ride to the ER because I knew I couldn't afford another ambulance.
We do not need the Govt. sticking their hands in our healthcare cookie jar. What we need is the Govt. watching over its people, the people who put them there, and protecting us from getting screwed by those taking advantage of people who need healthcare. Work towards eliminating, or at least drastically reducing, the greed & corruption...that's what would make healthcare affordable
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Post by weebitty on Aug 20, 2009 12:07:17 GMT -5
couldn't agree with you more ;D I think you have said it in a nutshell.
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Post by moneymaker1008 on Aug 20, 2009 15:03:42 GMT -5
I agree! It's so ridiculous. I take a lot of different medications because my immune system is pretty weak. We have top-notch insurance (it usually covers things completely) but it still isn't nearly enough. I recently had some pretty severe eczema and insurance wouldn't cover the $250 medication at all (stupidly) so I had to call my derm and ask for another recommendation (which still cost almost $100).
As long as people are taking real medications that they need the prices need to be controlled much better. And health insurance needs to be improved, as well. Unless a person has a history of reckless activities, then they shouldn't be punished into paying more. People shouldn't be punished for poor health if there is nothing that they have done to cause it. That's my two cents.
-Danielle
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Post by Connie on Aug 25, 2009 22:48:37 GMT -5
So how do you propose to regulate the dr's, the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical companies and STILL keep govt out of the heatlh care industry?
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Post by moneymaker1008 on Aug 26, 2009 3:15:25 GMT -5
I don't have an answer to that. I just rant, I don't have solutions. That's why I'm not a politician lol. -Danielle
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Post by Organized Chaos on Aug 28, 2009 12:26:11 GMT -5
There's a difference between Govt. control and Govt. regulation.
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Post by kansascity on Aug 28, 2009 17:49:47 GMT -5
I totally agree with all the statements made. I have not a clue on how to fix everything. I am afraid the politicians do not have a clue either. Let's hope they wake up soon and do something.
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Post by weebitty on Oct 11, 2009 1:48:44 GMT -5
articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/08/Big-Bucks-Big-Pharma.aspx This is an hour video if you have time to watch it other wise I am sure you can read what he has to say about it. Why do you think we are seeing so many commericals for drugs. People are being brain washed to think they need all these drugs. But if you really listen to the commericals the side effects keep me from asking my dr for any of it. And if you do get a drug and read the sheets they print out you don't want to take it after the dr does subscribe it. They wanted to put my husband on Statins I said no thanks we will do red yeast rice thank you and his last visit it was down by 30 points. Statins destroys your muscles!!! Think I want to take that just so I don't have high cholestral??? What is your heart............a muscle?? The last time I learned about it yes it was.
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Post by lindofree on Oct 21, 2009 12:47:56 GMT -5
I totally agree with all the statements made. I have not a clue on how to fix everything. I am afraid the politicians do not have a clue either. Let's hope they wake up soon and do something. Agreed. Before we start, I realize that I have really rambled & this is more of a rant. #1106# The drug company thing is way out of whack. DH was put on Lyrica. Our generous doc gave him almost 3 months worth of samples. It was literally a miracle drug, he said it took the pain down enough for him to function. When the samples were gone, the rx was $103/month. His rx deductible had already been met, otherwise it would have been over $200. It was a stretch for us to pay that. About the same time, Pfizer came out with some special assistance program, get the drug free for a year. We couldn't qualify. DH's unemployment started before the criteria on the application and he has private health insurance. I tried writing my saga of why he should still get free drugs but nope, we don't qualify. Some drug companies I've written to have at least send a coupon - better than nothing, but Pfizer - nada. I think Pfizer was wanted the PR from offering the program rather than really doing anything. In the "better than nothing" category, Dey Labs. I wrote to Dey, a set of EpiPens for younger DD costs over $100, I explained our circumstances, blah, blah - they replied with a $5 coupon - better than nothing, but they coulda coughed up something more helpful IMO. So, as DH's unemployment checks stopped, he did not want that drug any more. He was miserable #310#. Our doc is so incredibly generous #respect-040# but he has other patients that needs samples too - so we try not to take advantage of the situation. We did some research & asked the doc for a rx for gabapentin. It is NOT generic for Lyrica, it is SIMILAR to Lyrica. So DH is getting by, side effects are worse & the pain management is not anywhere near as good as Lyrica. That drug is $10. I have to spend extra money over the next couple of months to stock up on other drugs like insulin, before the end of the year and the deductible things starts again over! I am the lucky one. My insurance,from my day job employer, has no rx deductible AND, had some good luck recently with drug websites - free Symbicort last week & $25 off the next refill, almost free asthma rescue inhaler for the next two refills. But why do I have to spend hours on end, playing hide & seek with where the drug mfg hides them on their site? This is arrogant to say but, I feel if I wasn't a programmer & been in the computer industry for 20 years, I might not be able to find as many as I do. i.e. recent $25 rebate from Novolog insulin, there is NOTHING that pointed to it from the website. But WHY does luck=reasonable rx costs??? I hate playing these games #medium-smiley-014# - why can we get drugs at a reasonable cost ALL YEAR. Last year we spent almost $4000 on drugs. DH makes decisions to take or not take drugs based on costs more than effectiveness because we would never not buy drugs for the kids. Tamiflu - $90 for one kid, $77 for the other (that deductible kicked in there). I was not expecting that one. One last point - I blow away the pharmacist sometimes! The entire pharmacy staff knows me by name, they see me coming & gather up the bottles before I whip out the checkbook. And I can't tell you how many times they scan the bar code into the register and their mouth drops and/or I get a "oh, I'm so sorry #533#, this is really expensive" .
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