Hi john

That is more than likly what I'm going to do. Today, {Monday} A Social worker at the renal clinic gave me a phone number to try. It was to late when I got home this afternoon so I'll try it first thing Tuesday. My problem with just buying the cheapest drugs is that the cheapest drugs run around $250 for a 30 day supply. So for now I'm going to keep looking.

Harry

It's a systemic problem, Harry. There were about half a dozen e-mails from administration types this morning about MassHealth and the Part D crap. MassHealth has agreed, if I understood this correctly, to pay for aome interim medications.
Can I ask a personal question? Heck, I can ask and you can choose not to answer. :-) Anyway, are all your meds screened by one doctor? My in-laws saw several docs for various issues who would write scripts not knowing what other meds they were on. Some were contraindicated. Anyway, it's possible that some might be consolidated or be found to be excessive.
Hang in there. We're all pulling for you (and everyone else) stuck in this mess.

When we went online to parse the various formularies, we'd enter a drug name. Many times the screen would then ask if we wanted version A, B, D or D of the drug. We had no clue as it wasn't on the bottle or any info we had.

So we made a spreadsheet of drugs & variations, printed it out, gave it to my father-in-law & sent him to see his doctors. Everybody looked at everything & marked their choices, some saying A or B were OK, and that helped a lot.

We keep an eye on the diff doc problem & make him take his med list to each one with each visit so they know exactly what he gets & what dose (some dosages change frequently as the witch doctors try & manage whatever). It is a practice I highly recommend to everyone. Since we started that two years ago, he has dropped 4 or 5 meds.

John

hI GUYS

Victory at last well sort of. I am very happy to say that I think I have found my way through this mess, and into a plan that works A case worker at the Renal clinic I go to came up with a contact number at Medicare. It took some time and a lot of talking, but I am happy to say that I am a client of a company known as PacifiCare. This cut my out of pocket expense from $535 USD to around $128 USD. This is still a bit hard on a fixed income but it is easier to deal with. So if everthing works out, { and thats a very big IF } I should be ok. I want to thank everyone who replied to my post, and offered kind and very helpful words. This system is broken, and needs to be fixed or replaced. I urge everyone retired or not, disabled or healthy to call thier congressperson and tell them that they screwed up now fix it. I am ashamed of my goverment that would cut help to its weakest part of its population just to save money so it can be given to another country, or worse yet spent backing a policy built on lies.

Thanks again guys
Harry

P.S. Al, due to a number of different medical problems my meds are scripted by a number of different Doctors. I do have a specialist who oversees everything. You have to love the US medical system.

Harry

Glad we could help ...

John

Harry,

I am very pleased to see you have found some resolution to your problem. I too am disabled and my medicines cost approximatly US $23,000 per year. That's about $9,000 more than I recieve in SS disablity pay.

Luckily, I am presently covered on my wife's policy, but she will be retiring this year and will be with out that protection.

I am currently looking into options to cover my medication when she retires.

Our politicos do need to get off thier duffs and develop a better system than Medicare D!

Fred

Harry, first off, I feel for anyone in your predicament, and wish you all the best. It looks as if you're on your way to finding a solution. That said, I always thought that this forum was to remain apolitical. Since it obviously is being allowed to run its course, (no doubt in sympathy to your plight) I'm curious-
Is this government (the one plotting your demise) the same one that purportedly blew up only certain levies in Nawlins, to insure that only the poor were flooded out?
Try moveon.org. I'm sure they'll help you bring your story to the forefront.

Hi guys

I don't favor one political party over another. In fact I pretty much don't care for either of the two main parties. When I first made this post it was just a way to unload a massive problem among friends. As I have said I did not expect any replys, but I am, and always will be very greatful for them.
As for what happen in the entire Gulf Coast this past summer. Weather is one thing, but the response to the disaster was beyond shameful, it was criminal. I have spoken to friends of mine who were volunteers with both EMS and Law Enforcement , and could go on and on about the disgraceful way the response went. All I will say is that I can't wait for 08.

Harry

I am sorry for your mis-fortune - and I'm glad I have the VA and a really good HMO. Please understand that as a nation the people of the United States are generous to a fault however it will still fall to the individual in the end - such is the nature of a free society. In order to cover all of it's citizens with medical insurance many countries have decided to use less than outstanding services (note the number of people that come to the states for medical treatment) I hope that you will find assistance for you health issues have you tried the FOP or a civil servants group? Are you aware that most drug companies will underwrite your presciptions if you can show hardship? try this :
http://www.rxhope.com/

I guess we should just do away with all local, and state governments?

well guys i got some good pointers out of here for me mom, she is 76, and i will pass em on to her, so this thread has really helped me and others.

as for the plight of the gulf coasties, well i dunno what to tell ya. we had peeps down there from the ems company i work for, and it was hectic and ya know we had to pull em when they started getting shot at. but thats another story.

no we weren't ready for the type of devastation that visited the gulf coast, no in particular, but how do ya prep and respond to something like that? i know some will answer with pre planning, but that went out the window when the state gov't wouldn't feds permission cause they wouldn't be in charge[ still trying to figure that one out ].

and then we had the media blitz on delays[ there were ]and political butt coverage, and the weather preventing getting in there, and of course peeps shooting at rescuers and otherwise doing damage to themselves.

other than that, can't come up with an answer.....


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