Frugal Friday....the March 8th Edition

There are very few Frugal wins(more like a week of medical frustrations)this past week but here goes....

*  I tried to use the Dental Discount Plan that came with my United Healthcare Supplement this week to schedule a dental checkup and cleaning.  After an inordinate number of phone calls over the coarse of this week and texts to United Healthcare and various Dentists here who "supposedly" accept this discount , I gave up.  They basically lied, there is no Discount Plan in this area because there are no Dentists who accept it.  So frustrated!  Why offer this "perk" if you buy this Supplement but you can't use it United Healthcare???  United Healthcare will be hearing from me and possibly won't get my money next calendar year for a Medicare Supplement.

Anybody out there know of a good dental insurance plan for us old foggies 65 or more?  Please send me a message.  Thanks!

*  I had a follow up with Pain Management.  One week out and the Ablation is not helping much yet. The PA there had written me an Rx in January for a muscle relaxer while I waited on having the Ablation done.  I got a Denial letter from my Part D saying I get one "courtesy" fill but they will not cover this medicine going forward as it's not in my formulary.(I double checked before signing up for a Part D plan that ALL my normal meds are in the formulary but how are we to know what random Rx some doctor will prescribe and whether it's on your formulary?  You can't unless you bring a computer to your appointment and look that drug up before he/she sends that script and you can advise said doc on this and they can try another drug.) So frustrating!

So I let the PA know I have to refill this Rx totally OOP next time and she says the office can contact my supplement provider and ask for an exemption.  Fine.  So I go to Walmart to pick up the Steroid pack the Ortho put me on and the pharmacy tech hands me TWO prescriptions and there is no charge.  ???  I see one is the Pain Management Rx(insurance said they wouldn't fill again), but filled in tablet form(not the capsules the PA wrote for this drug last time).  I am reading the paperwork you get with your drugs and it says, "Do not change from the capsule form to the tablet form and vice versa. ???  So I call the Pain Management office to advise them of all this.  A nurse calls back and tells me don't worry about switching from capsules to tablets and that Medicare supplement insurance plans never cover the capsule form but they do cover the tablet form of this drug.  Sooooooo, WHY on earth did the PA write the script for capsules in the first place?  They KNOW how old I am and I'm on Medicare! Just another cluster you-know-what.  I've got to laugh because crying does no good.....

*  I also saw the Orthopedist about my shoulders again.  He wants to see MRIs of my shoulders before he injects anything else into me because x-rays don't show you the whole story internally.  I might be more a candidate for PT(or if it's really bad, a candidate for surgery bleh)but he can't know until he looks at MRIs.....and he believes there is more going on in there besides Bursitis.  So we are waiting on approval from Medicare for MRIs while I spend this week on Steroids(which aren't helping my shoulders so far but I'll continue the med and hope for the best).

*  I also had a week of trying to get 2 regular prescriptions filled that I am on.  Our HSA debit card wouldn't go through for my ultra-expensive specialty drug.  At first we thought it was because we got new debit cards and they changed the security code on them unbeknownst to us. So I had to delete the old card on my rx plan account and then add the new debit card with the correct security code.  But the payment still wouldn't go through so we had to go back to the bank that handles the HSA account and it turns out there is a $2,500.00 limit on any one drug charge.  So we had to go back to the bank and have our limit raised so I could fill this $2,612.08 prescription.

Then I couldn't get another less expensive non-specialty drug filled at Walmart.  I texted on March 3rd to refill.  Walmart replied it's out of stock and will be 1-2 days to get it back in stock and they will contact me.  Walmart never texted me back so I had to go in person to the pharmacy counter and ask again at the end of the week.  and Walmart pharmacy I use tells me it's back ordered and no Walmart or Sam's Club pharmacy(which are in my Part D network)can get it in my area. Fan-so-tastic!

I ended up having to go to my approved mail order pharmacy to finally get this drug.....after contacting the PCP AGAIN(had to contact him before about a pre-authorization)that he had to write a new prescription so mail order could fill it.  Hopefully it arrives before I run out.  I really don't like to cut it this close.  

*  I've already blogged about what groceries/toiletries I picked up last weekend.  I did get picked for a Dove campaign and picked up these new products on Wednesday........

It's through a company called "The Insiders" I joined(don't need a code to sign up).  I do have to review the items, etc. but I will received $34.00 in a rebate for purchasing these.  The items cost me $19.94 OOP making it a $14 moneymaker.

*  We picked up some produce(and a couple of steaks for $3.47 lb,)at a grocery store while over in Texas after having BBQ there for lunch,  All fresh produce, best prices and it actually looked good too-broccoli, green beans, yellow squash, sweet potatoes and a cuke.  We also bought Hubs a pack of English Muffins they had reduced to .47¢, and the bill totaled $14.00.

AND to top it all off there was NO sales tax on food in Texas and since it was Thursday I got a 5% Senior discount at this grocery store.  That seems to about the only perk of being old lately. lolz

*  I found money!

At Walmart last Friday there was .17¢ in the coin return of the checkout machine I was using.  Then I found another penny on the floor nearby.

Last Weekend I was going through stacks of old papers and found this Birthday card my youngest made for me years ago.  It was written in cursive so he was about in 5th or 6th grade(not that they even teach cursive writing in schools nowadays but they did back in the early 2000's).  

Inside the card, on the page opposite where he wrote a message, was a dime taped to the card.  I am counting this as "found money". ;-)

Another 2 pennies found as I strolled out of Walmart on Tuesday evening after picking up an Rx.

I ran into the crappy Kroger on Tuesday while we were out seeing the Painful doctor and found another 2 pennies in there by a register.

Stopped for gas at the Walmart on the way home and found a penny by the pump.

That grocery store we stopped at in Texas?  I found this penny in the foyer while leaving the store.

Total Found in last Week.... .34¢

Grand Total Found this Year.......$1.89

That's all I got.  

Any frugal wins in your neck of the woods?  Let's hear all about them!

Sluggy