Wednesday, May 7, 2008

HIGH RISK

Back in '05 I got these flu like symptoms. I got a fever and the sweats. I felt like I was gonna die, and wished I would. I looked in the mirror and all these red blotches(like Mickey Mouse) were spread over my body. I asked my sister-in-law Nurse Ginger what it was. She looked at the blotches and said it looked like mosquitos. Ginger must've missed that day at nurse school. I went on line and googled Lyme disease. Bingo. Ginger asked her boss Dr. Bob to write me a script and in a month I was cured. The antibiotics were 30 bucks.
Yesterday I yanked an embedded deer tick out of my left arm and then called Ginger. I figured a little preventative medicine was in order. Every May I spend the month crawling through the woods, as the ticks feast on my scrawny frame. I'm what you call high risk for Lyme disease. Ginger talked to the Doc. and he called in the script. But this time it was $250. What the....? How could this be?
I have no health insurance. I've never been able to afford it. I pay for my glaucoma meds to keep from going blind and pray nothing else too drastic goes wrong. So far (knock on wood) it's worked. Ginger and Dr. Bob look out for me when I whine loud enough. The problem is that doctors in this country have no clue what shit costs, nor do they care. They figure insurance pays so why sweat the details? So when the call gets made the wheels turn and the girl behind the counter asks for the insurance card, I just shrug. When I said I was paying, she grimanced. "Ouch!" An insured person would never even quibble.
I asked one pharmacist if there was a generic version. He said no. I got on the phone to Ginger. I hated to bug her. But I hated paying $250 more. She said I needed this stuff and as i was sighing and getting out my check book, another pharmacist said there was a generic version, that would be cheaper. Ginger OKed it and I got the cheaper antibiotic. How much cheaper? $238 cheaper. I paid $12 for the same stuff. You wonder why the medical industry does not want universal health care? Multiply this little tale by millions daily and you get the picture. Here's to your health.

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