My story is nowhere as tragic as the ones that NYCEve has posted here, but I do want to mention something that just happened to me. I have to have a prescription temporarily until the doctor fixes what is wrong. This is a cream I need to mitigate against irritation.
Anyway, though, I have only a day and a half's supply left. So I called my CVS and the autorefill system won't fill it. I call the pharmacist and get a live voice. More beneath the fold
I find out that my insurance will only pay for a "month's supply". This prescription costs $25 a month. I asked if I could fill a generic. The pharmacist stated that the doctor insisted that I take the brand name product, so I was like fine.
But she said that she can't fill it until April 6th, when the new "month" starts. I told her that originally they did not provide me with a month's supply. I need enough to get me through the 6th. She told me that she would call the insurance company and call to find out if she could get a special approval, which I doubt will happen. She told me that the out-of-pocket cost for this creme is $146.
Although I make a decent salary, as I was out of work for almost a year before I started my current job, I can't afford that. While my situation is probably better than many Kossacks, because my credit card balances rose, I have to pay them off. That places me in the "Nickel and Dimed" world, although I am a white collar professional. My job also requires me to maintain excellent credit; so, if my insurance company does not allow the prescription to be filled, I am going to have to wait.
I am seeing the doctor in the middle of the week for an exam. I will ask him then if I can have future prescriptions filled with the generic brand. Anyway, though, I am somewhat irritated. I need this cream and can't get it.
Something is wrong with our healthcare system if I can't get the prescription that I need when I need it. And yet, while this story is nothing like the denials and other horrors that NYCEve has told me about, I can't help but feel irritation and outrage.
Update: They are going to fill the prescription. The insurance company will provide me with 2 weeks' supply. This works for me. I will ask the doctor at my appointment later this upcoming week if I can receive the generic.