Overheard at the pharmacy today:

[Kenergy]

I just caught the tail end of the conversation, but a man approx 70 years old was at the
pharmacy counter when I went to get my prescription, and he said " I don't blame you, I blame
the government."
He did not appear to be a happy camper as he left.
I went to get my prescription filled,and was told that my healthcare provider wouldn't
cover my meds.
Come to find out, I have to order my meds through the mail now...can't go to the local pharmacy
to get them.
I was at Eckerds because my local pharmacy( a Mom & Pop owned pharmacy) is shutting down
because they can't compete with Walmart and Eckerds.
This entire Health Care system is screwed up.

[electron_blue]

1. not to be too nosey, but since you posted this....

do you know why your provider won't cover the meds anymore? Is it a generic thing, or did they eliminate a class of drugs from their coverage? Partly, I'm wondering whether to expect the same thing from my provder.

[LittleClarkie]

8. Alot of companies are making folks go to mail only now

My brother gets his stuff from the VA that way.

[no_hypocrisy]

16. Yeah, as long as the mail doesn't originate in Canada . . . .

[SmokingJacket]

24. I wonder how safe that is...

I don't want Rush Limbaugh and his ilk getting into my mailbox, stealing my drugs...

[pacalo]

14. We have to get our prescriptions through the mail by the

provider's pharmacy, too. They fill 90-day prescriptions. We haven't had any experience with medications not covered yet, but they do use generic whenever possible & they are a lot cheaper.

[YouthInAsia]

18. alot of the new drugs on the market are wildly expensive and

the older med are just as good, if not BETTER, than the new stuff. Plus, since they're older, they are prob avail in generic. But the drug reps go around and whore themselves and their freebies to the md's and the md's just start prescribing h the new sutff asap. Im a pharmacist and I've got to admit that sometimes I can see where the insurance comapnies are coming from. These drug comapnies are simply outrageous.

When Prilosec was JUST avil as a prescription, thirty caps cost something like $130.00. When it went OTC, the EXACT SAME DRUG now cost $17.99. Its a complete scam on the drug comanies part

[Kenergy]

21. I'm not sure...I don't know what their angle is...still trying to figure

this healthcare stuff out. I have a brother who lives overseas and they have "socialized"
medicine. If he has a medical problem, he calls a doctor, sets up an appointment, goes to see
the doctor and gets meds. It all comes out of his taxes.
Whether that's good or not, it's very simple.No hassles.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. Get this if you care to.... it has been quite a help to me and

mine....

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0761511571.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0761511571/104-6427327-8380705?v=glance&n=283155
An Excellent Overview of Natural Medicine, September 28, 2001
Reviewer: J. P. Wakamatsu (Wyoming) - See all my reviews
This is a great book for the general public as well as naive health care professionals to learn about Natural Medicine. EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE A COPY OF THIS BOOK AND STUDY IT. YOUR LIFE MAY DEPEND ON IT. I have learned that I am eating totally wrong and am setting myself up for a cardiovascular disaster. And I'm a doctor and should know better! Now I can set things straight.

Yeah, I'm an M.D. and have been trained to treat my patients with chemicals (Allopathic Medicine), but I have been trying to expand my knowledge base about the practice of medicine and luckly stumbled on Dr. Murray's Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine.

I will integrate what I have and will learn about Natural Medicine in my everyday practice (and my own life!). I feel that, with certain exceptions, Natural Medicine should be tried first. Only when that fails or is inappropriate should Allopathic Medicine be used.

There is a growing trend for M.D.'s to use Natural Medicine in their practice. ...

[khair75092]

4. The sobriety is freaking me out!

[Katherine Brengle]

5. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[HysteryDiagnosis]

7. Get rid of it straight away.... being freaked out has been tied to

bouts of excitamentalism.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

10. Ok. Ya Gotta Fill Me In Here. Please Indulge My Intense Curiosity.

You've been a member of DU for 5 full months. You haven't posted once. You chose the above post to finally come forward and write your first DU post (congrats by the way). But it is such a benign post in comparison to the zillions of threads and posts that have been around since november. So my mind is begging you, what in that post inspired you to reply for your first time? Seriously, I'm totally curious because something in that post brought you out of your shell. What was it that made you choose to finally post? :rofl:

And in all seriousness, I hope this starts an ongoing habit for you to start posting frequently. Believe me, once you get started, it gets addictive reallllllllly quickly. :)

on edit: I see you are just shootin out those posts now. Guess the addiction has overtaken you already.

[darkmaestro019]

12. A-men to that one. It's cracklike, or even worse, cigarette like. nt

[Kenergy]

20. Welcome to DU khair! n/t

[Rainscents]

6. I have that book!

Yes, everyone should have this!!!

[HysteryDiagnosis]

9. Yeah... it's pretty damn awesome. n/t

[tyedyeto]

3. Or the cost, even with Rx insurance, is so high...

seniors and others have to purchase out of this country.

[cynatnite]

11. Several years ago we had a health care provider mail us prescriptions

It worked out just fine. Go to the doctor, they'd fax the prescriptions to our health care provider and the meds were overnighted. Was a far better system than now.

We had to fight with Walgreens just about every time when we got a new insurance. We take a prescription to them, they check their computers and then tell us some bullshit story about the system being down or slow. This happened twice. Went back a third time with a different prescription, started having the same problem. The pharmacist got on the phone, worked it through and then explained what we need to tell them whenever we get meds filled. So, I go back a fourth time a few months ago, explained what they needed to do and the guy argued with me. I yelled at him, took my prescription and left.

Now, I have to decided between Walmart, Kmart, and CVS. :grr:

[ellenfl]

13. cvs . . . it's blue. eom

[TheCentepedeShoes]

26. CVS took over the neighborhood Eckerds

Don't know anything about their politics, but the new CVS is clean and bright. The old Eckerds was a dirty dungeon. And it seems the people at CVS were also at the Eckerds, so maybe nobody lost a job.

[YouthInAsia]

15. they make you use mail order cuz its cheaper for them. Im a

pharmacist, I deal with this stuff 24/7

[Kenergy]

22. I see,thank you! n/t

[InkAddict]

17. Some plans will not cover

routine medications (those taken long-term for a chronic problem)after the third script/refill unless you fill out more forms and have the drugs sent through the mail. I think it is very dangerous to send Rx drugs through the mail, especially to persons who live in older apartment communities. Our slotted front door is plugged for energy efficiency, and our outdoor mail boxes are non-locking. Anyone could grab them out of the boxes. Carriers could drop them on the sidewalks accidentally or deliver them to the wrong place. How many times do apartment dwellers get mail from previous tenants long gone after years? Then even more forms to fill out, divulging information to even more persons who want to track your lost mail? And even more work to have the script sent out again when it did not arrive? Do you want everyone in the rental office to know who's getting regular packages from Medscript Express and/or taking medications for pain, depression, anxiety, HIV, diabetes, epilepsy. Even in the plain brown wrappers, it's bound to be a dead giveaway what's inside. Our office staff are gossip queens! This rule is just plain stupid on so many levels. I want to get my drugs at my pharmacy!

[cynatnite]

19. The VA mail their meds, too

Whenever we get meds through the mail, we have to sign for most of them. They are wrapped in very hard to open plastic and in some cases it's double wrapped. There is no way anyone could tell what kind of meds are inside.

Plus, all the information regarding prescriptions are maintained in a computer mainfraim. I do admire how they have streamlined medical information on patients throughout the system. Hubby is a truck driver and if he has to go to the VA in another state, they can pull up everything and know what kind of care he is on here.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

27. Mr 'pede gets his VA meds

via mail, too, but doesn't need to sign. Just put in the mail box.

[Kenergy]

23. Good point! n/t

[Kenergy]

25. Thank you DU'ers!!!

I can always count on you for your opinions and interesting discourse.
I always learn from your input!

THANK YOU!!!

<Heart symbol> <Hug>

[Fleshdancer]

28. I was at the pharmacy last Wednesday....

and the guy in front of me couldn't afford his medication. :( Whatever it was cost $128 because he didn't have insurance.

[howmad1]

29. Do ya suppose President Prick gets his drugs by mail?

Naw, I bet Air Force One makes a special run to Columbia on a weekly basis.:evilgrin: