I admit it. I am now a junkie. I am out to get as many prescription drugs as I can by December 31st. It is embarrassing to me to have to tell people about my problem, but it isn't my fault. It is my insurance company's doing.
Our insurance policy (through a large, well-known company that shall not be named here) is a PPO. It also has a catastrophic deductible of almost $5000, attached to an HSA. Oh, and the premiums are huge. This, sadly, is through my husband's employer, a law firm, but we keep it just because we have to. We have never made the deductible in all the years we have had it, and as a result, by the terms of our policy, prescription drugs cost a fortune. We get a "discount," but it is negligible. If it is a brand name drug, it costs. A lot.
This year, however, our daughter had nose surgery. She had broken it as a very small child, and as she grew it listed to one side, resulting in breathing issues, nosebleeds, and general hugeness. We knew the insurance company would be an issue, but she had gotten to an age where she could have the surgery to fix it, and we could afford it. Of course, the insurance company paid for a fraction of it, deeming most of it "cosmetic." Again, this did not surprise us, and is another story for another day.
The result of this surgery (besides the repaired nose) has been that we have actually reached our deductible. While this is not something to necessarily celebrate, we discovered that all of our prescription drugs are now virtually free. We found this out by accident: my husband had to get some ear medication, and when he went to pick it up the pharmacy said it was 25 cents. Yes, that's right: one quarter. The pharmacist (our ad hoc insurance consultant) said that because we had met the deductible, our prescription drug benefit had "kicked in." Imagine that--we didn't even know we had such a benefit. All we needed for it to kick in was to spend thousands and thousands of dollars! How fortunate for us!
So I am now out to get every prescription drug that I can. I went to my allergist and said sure, give me that allergy drug that I went without--it's practically free! Took the girls to the dermatologist, and said give them that low grade antibiotic for their acne--why not! I have gotten Retin-A, cough medicine (the good kind), anti-inflammatory pills, cream for my husband's excema (he just lived with it before), Lipitor and some decongestant. I am asking all my doctors if there is any medicine that I might possibly need in the future for any potential ailment. I intend to get enough of them so that they will carry us through for a couple of years, so I am having the drugstore fill six months worth at a time, and I plan to go at least three more times to get them filled. It's like Christmas, only with a group number!
I know this will all be over on January 1st, when the insurance clock resets. Maybe, maybe Congress and the President will pass a health care bill that will save me from the squalor of this life I am spiraling into. My kids can't always have expensive surgery, you know.