Dirtbag Medical Insurance Companies

[280plus]

Yup, so I get a letter, "Your doctor has authorized us to change your prescription from the expensive stuff that works really well to the cheap stuff that doesn't work at all." Now, I already went through this once where I had to try the cheap stuff, then the more expensive stuff and finally, after a couple months of suffering the old familiar viscious heartburn, BACK to the stuff I'm taking now, so I know full well my doctor did not authorize this. So I called the doctor, woke him up and said "Doctor, did you change what I should take? I said, "Doctor, to relieve this belly ache?" (Sorry, couldn't resist. )

The doctor said, "No more monkeys ju..."

Actually he said, "No, I did not."

Those conniving BASTARDS!!   :fire:

[mtnbkr]

Send a letter to whatever passes for customer service and CC your doc.  Follow up with a phone call.  

Chris

[BozemanMT]

My wife has the same issue
you have to do all this BS with the meds by mail crap and if you don't dot every single freaking i and cross every t, they screw you and send (and bill) you the generics, which don't work for her.
unbelievable
i hate insurance companies

[mtnbkr]

Wanna know what's really annoying?  When you find a company that's great and you use them for several years, your company decides to drop them as an available option.  Next year, my company is dropping Kaiser Permanente.  For the past 5 years, we've gotten EXCELLENT service from them.  No games, no BS, just great healthcare.  My wife likes her doc, I like mine, and my daughter's pediatrician is fantastic.  The only time I had to complain to anyone was when one idiot doctor misdiagnosed our daughter's broken arm (odd fracture, hard to spot on Xray, but even I could see it once her regular doc mentioned a visual clue to look for).  A phone call to the customer service rep (can't remember official title) and it was all taken care of.

I'd like to pay for Kaiser out of my own pocket, but I don't think I'll get enough of a credit for not buying company provided health insurance to cover KP's cost for a family.

Chris

[280plus]

Well, it turns out that until my doctor writes "Brand name medically necessary" on the prescription the insurance company will fax him a request for a change to generic every time I refill the prescription. So apparently this time somebody fouled up and signed it and faxed it back. But still, at the beginning of using this new company (United Health Care) I went over this with them and absolutely refused to allow them to change me back to prilosec again but yet they kept it up behind the scenes till they snagged me anyways. Then they try to stuff how much you'll be saving in your face to try and get you to go for it. Then you gotta call all over creation and spend time straightening it out. Then you wait for the next episode...

[280plus]

I think Kaiser went under up here, I heard they were the best but I could never afford them. I'd be interested in hearing what their rates are in your area. Mostly cause I'm nosy.
I had Connecticare for a long time I had a high copay and a high deductible and they were the ones that forced me to start back at the bottom of the drug pile and work my way back up. And I tried cause I'd love to save some money on meds, it sucked and it cost me money because I was left with partial prescriptions of the different craps that didn't work. So great for whom? Finally my wife got UHC through her work and I switched to that and they haven't been too bad but they are always hounding you to use cheaper drugs. Now the sly sneaky underhanded BS like this just rings my effin' bell.

[Tallpine]

"Dirtbag Medical Insurance Companies"

Is there any other kind ....?  

[BrokenPaw]

Next year, my company is dropping Kaiser Permanente.  For the past 5 years, we've gotten EXCELLENT service from them.

Really?  I've got Kaiser, and while I don't often go to the doc (which is to say, pretty much never), BrokenMa's gotten a heck of a runaround from them on several occasions.  We've both gotten so frustrated with the hassle (her from going through it, me from her having to go through it) that we very badly wanted to switch providers last time my company's open enrollment period came around.  But the others were just way more expensive.

But hey, if you like them, I know a company where you can get covered by them...  

-BP

[HForrest]

Well, I mean... if you're talking about the generic version of the same drug, there's really no difference whatsoever. It's the same exact chemical.

[280plus]

No, in this case it's not just swapping generic for brand name. They're talking two entirely different drugs. One is expensive the other is not.

[mtnbkr]

280, to get what I have now, I would have to sign up for a $9400/year plan with KP.  Currently, I have no deductable, a $10 copay for all services, and a $5/copay for generic drugs (I think it's $15 for brand name stuff).  When I had my gallbladder surgery, I paid $10 out of pocket.  

I'm currently on the generic form of Prilosec.  A 90 day supply is $5.  

United is what's replacing KP. It has higher copays and deductables of various types.

BP, I too have heard complaints about KP, but they've been great for us.  They handled my wife's ITP, her pregnancy (which was considered high risk due to her ITP), my gallbladder and acid reflux, etc without us having to ask for anything.  My doctor is proactive about keeping an eye on my cholesterol, BP, etc, something I'm not good at myself.  My wife's doctor is well versed on her ITP (many docs aren't) and makes sure she can get her platelet's checked whenever she feels the need.  We've never had a problem getting to see a specialist when we wanted one.  

Chris

[280plus]

That's $783 a month. heck, I'd get sick once a month just from writing that check.

[Standing Wolf]

My Kaiser so-called "nurse practitioner" couldn't tell my right arm from my left. My Kaiser so-called "eye doctor" wrote the prescription for the single worst pair of glasses I've ever tried to see through. My Kaiser so-called "health care provider" lost my MRI scans.

You couldn't pay me to go back to that bunch of dummies.

[charby]

medco drug sucks too

coworker is epileptic.  So he on maintenance meds, so with the medco plan if you prescription is more than a couple months they send it to you in the mail, well they screwed up his meds and for about 45 days he was getting an anti depressant that looks similar to his seizure medicine.

Well one day 45 he had a seizure, went to the ER and his Dr couldn't find a trace of his normal meds in his system.  That is how they found out that he got the wrong meds.

After this incident he heard all sorts of horror stories from this happening with medco.

My wife is on anti seizure meds and so far we have just gotten one month supply at a time at the pharmacy, I imagine soon medco will be sending us a letter or notification that they need to come by mail.

I miss the old Blue Cross/ Blue Shields plan we used to have.

-C

[Car Knocker]

I've had local pharmacies make mistakes, also.