Went to get my anti-depressant prescription refilled ...

[Flammable Materials]

... and my co-pay has gone up on it from just last month.

I can barely afford it as it is. On the other hand, if I don't take it, I become extremely depressed.

Life in America under GOP rule is a lot like a shit sandwich: You can either eat it, or starve.

[dietdpfan]

1. I'm so sorry to hear that.

I hope this doesn't put too much strain on your resources.

It's stories like these that re-energize me to get Kerry elected. Our healthcare system needs a major overhaul and he's the MAN to get it done.

:grr:

[molly]

2. Go here.....

http://www.familiesusa.org/site/PageServer

[jrthin]

3. The sandwich: ain't that the truth.

I sympathize. My husband's and my health insurance has shot up to $850.00 monthly. And guess what, we have no choice, we have to pay it.

[LDS Jock]

9. DAMN! Thats expensive

but then, you look at it the other way, and is it more expensive to do without? Or is it even a choice? Almost always, the answer is you must have it. $850 a month.. like a house payment.

[BamaGirl]

12. It really scares me to read stuff like this.

There is no way we could afford that. My choice would be insurance or feed the kids. No choice there.

~~BamaGirl

[Dogmudgeon]

4. A mighty expensive sandwich, too

In 1997, my daily medications cost me about $25 per month.

Now, I pay $160 per month, and I had to stop one of the meds, which went from $6 to $45 per month.

Health Insurance? What Health Insurance? After all, "It's not a Right, it's a Privilege!"

--bkl

[Raven]

5. Check your insurance company to see if

there is a generic your can take. Also, some of these companies seem to prefer one brand over another...or...sometimes a larger dose pill is less expensive and you can cut the pill in half. Talk to you doc about this and good luck. I know how you feel...I take a cholesterol med that costs me a co-pay of $100 a month...thanks GWB!

[caledesi]

6. Husband laid off and lost our insurance. Now working temp

job w/ no health insurance.

Our prescriptions:
Zoloft $180/month (we both take it)
Klonopin $75/month

We have other prescriptions that we don't even refill because we can't afford it.

[TexasBushwhacker]

15. Are those generics?

Zoloft has been around for almost 15 years. It's generic name is Sertraline Hydrochloride.

Klonapin is definitely available as a generic. It's called Clonazepam and is a scored pill (.5 mg, 1 mg or 2 mg).

You may also want to add fish oil (containing EPA & DHA in a 2 to 1 ratio). My doctor said up to 10 grams a day of EPA and 5 of DHA, but I read a study that said that more than 1 gram of EPA and 500 mg of DHA didn't have statistically significant results (69% better than placebo). It works better the longer you take it too. It's good for your brain and your heart. Get the stuff with lemon or orange flavor if you can. The regular stuff gives me "fishy" burps.

[miss_kitty]

7. health plan in America for everyone right now?

"Don't Get Sick"

[dolo amber]

8. I was behind an elderly gentleman at the pharmacy

last month...he had to choose between his and his wife's medications. He opted for hers because 'she needs them more than I do'. I nearly wept. :(

Oh, and even though from what I understand there was to be some sort of compensation later...his total was $512.00. :wow:

[TexasBushwhacker]

16. Yup, my dad is 72 and his doctor wants him to retire

He's already had one heart attack, but he said he can't stop working because he has to pay all his copays. He's on 7 different medications.

[Ladyhawk]

18. OMFG!!!! That's awful!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[skygazer]

10. Depressing, itsn't it?

Pun fully intended. It truly sucks and it's so wrong. I have a sister who is on a fixed income and has many health problems. She often has to choose between buying food and buying medication for diabetes and depression, as well as pain meds for the two herniated disks she has in her back.

It's more than depressing, it's frightening. Good luck to you - that's not a place conducive to lowering your stress level!

[Ladyhawk]

19. Your sister isn't me, is she?

:crazy:

I'm living on a fixed income. I have Depression, diabetes and two herniated discs in my neck. Very painful. I am on meds for depression, anxiety, pain, diabetes. When the nurse at the doc's office asks me which medications I'm on, I usually reply, "All of them, I think."

And the more hoops I have to hop through, the more stressed I get. Stress isn't good for diabetes or Depression. It can also exacerbate pain. The latest fiasco: I need a new MRI of my whole spine because I think I have another herniated disc in my lower back. I've been waiting nearly a year and it still hasn't been approved. During this time, my neurosurgeon moved. Now I have to find someone else I can trust to cut around my spinal cord.

I'm also an avid singer / soloist and the idea of losing this ability scares me to death. :cry:

Luckily, my family helps with costs...but it's hard because they are so right-wing and so fundy...I think I'm going insane.

[BamaGirl]

11. Awful, isn't it?

My 7yo's co-pays are up to about $130/mo and our premium went up too. What completely pisses me off is that all my co-pays are $15 less than hers on drugs that generally cost more. I can picture some insurance company shmuck saying, oh we can put a higher co-pay on this because it's a kids drug and you know they'll pay that co-pay no matter what it is. :mad: And they're right. I don't always fill stuff for me, but I always get my kids' prescription.

~~BamaGirl

[Nikia]

13. Another example of why things are wrong

The problem with using the market to determine health care is that everyone values their own lives more than anything else economically. You can't work and make more money if you are dead or too sick too work. Things are less valuable than your very being. With both the poor and rich willing to pay all that they have for their health, we have a problem. This is why health care needs to be reformed.

[TexasBushwhacker]

14. Does your insurance have mail in prescriptions?

Sometimes you can get a 3 month supply for the cost of 2 co-pays. It saves you a little money.

[Ladyhawk]

17. (((((((((((Flammable Materials)))))))))

Health care is going to hell in a handbasket. :( I've been waiting almost a year for a needed MRI to be approved...just the latest in a long series of "let's fuck the disabled" moves on the part of Medi-Cal.