Meds
I’m going to be one of those cantankerous people who gripe about their medications. I have one friend, God bless her, who when I was feeling depressed because I was going to have to take a daily medication said “You’ve managed to put it off this long??” She always knows just what to say. Somehow, I guess I had hoped for a miracle, I was going to be a person who never had to take anything. It hurt my pride more than anything else to be told that I might live as long, but the quality of my life could be dramatically effected. That made an impression on me.
As retired military, we can get some medications for ‘free.’ So last week, when my prescription had about five pills left, I called in for a refill. It was all automated, so there was no one I could talk with, and the automated voice told me my refill would be ready for pick-up today. Meanwhile, I had five pills, and seven nights to get through.
The next day I went to the Navy Hospital, where the clerk told me that they gave me seven days worth of my medication to get me through to when I could pick up.
This morning, we got there early, 8:30, and it wasn’t open until nine, so we did some commissary shopping, then went back – only forty minutes later, but the line was 19 people long, people older than me, standing in line outside in temperatures in the 90’s (F) and steamy. Almost every other person had a problem. “Sir, we don’t even see your name in the system” they say to one. “Sir, your medication just came in; there was a shortage and we won’t have it ready for you for another couple hours.” “Sir, that medication isn’t available, can you come back in two weeks?”
When my turn came, they told me my prescription had already been refilled, and I could not get another refill until the end of the month. Indeed, when I looked at the bottle the hospital had given me, it was a full refill, but I didn’t know that.
To get this free medication is a lot of work. For only a small amount more, we can have it mailed to our home address. I am thinking that might work better for me.
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Hi In the uk us retireds get our precriptions FREE – good old NHS! Call in the docs, order the prescription, next day take it to the chemist and collect, usually in five minutes! We may rattle a bit but going strong.
Still remember our outing in Kuwait – and we celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks.
Best wishes Andy’s Oldies.
The Health system in America is its Achilles heel ,One of the best medical system in the world if not the best provided you can afford it . Did you notice any changes since the new health act came into effect ??
My suggestion keep getting the free Government medicines and order some medication online as buffer in case you cant go to collect it for one reason or another .
Stockpile ,you have earned it
Great comment, Malcolm, and of course I recognized your names right away, and remembered all the fun times we had together when you visited Kuwait. 45! That is quite an accomplishment!
Hmmm, stockpiling is not exactly a possibility, Daggero, the way the prescriptions are written. Your approach is pretty much what I am doing, however – getting free medications where I can, and doing the mail-in with those the military pharmacy doesn’t stock. The one med is written in 30 day increments, which is a pain in the neck, but I also think I will go later in the day after this – there was a huge line as the pick-up point opened first thing in the morning. Oh, aarrgh!
We talk about health care all the time. We have good health coverage, and it won’t change any with the new regulations; it is through the military, so it might change, but it would be separate. What we see is that people who have insurance get special rates negotiated by the insurance companies. Those who have no insurance pay nearly double the insurance rates, sometimes more. It doesn’t seem fair to penalize the very poor and those who don’t have work-related insurance. People say “oh the poor get their care free” but the truth, as I have seen it, is that the very poor get minimal health care, and if a test is costly, they are less likely to have it. Being poor means poorer health care. It’s not right. I’ve lived in countries where everyone gets health care, and it’s not perfect, but people are better off having some healthcare, rather than none.