I got a nasty little surprise today.
While I was in Rite-Aid spending my +Up Rewards(I am officially out of them now), I went back to the Pharmacy counter to get a prescription refilled and give them my new insurance information.
We were forced to change coverage in 2014....not because of ObummerCare or anything, because our previous coverage company was an HMO deal and doctors and services are ONLY available in the northeastern PA area. Seeing as the Daughter has been in Louisiana since last May and #2 Son is leaving for college(only one of the schools he is considering is in this area), half the family can't use the medical coverage and we'd had to pay out of pocket since May for Daughter's expenses(ouch)and if #2 Son goes elsewhere for college, we'd be paying OOP for his medical care too.
So Hubs changed the coverage for 2014 to one with participating doctors and coverage nationwide.
The plans we have ALWAYS had up until this new one have had prescription benefits that are NOT dependent on deductibles being satisfied first. IE-You go to get a med refill in January and you haven't satisfied your coverage deductible, you still only pay the prescription plan price and your meds are not used to satisfy your deductible.
Until now.
So the pharmacy clerk tells me our $3K deductible hasn't been satisfied(well duh!...nobody has seen a doc or had a test or blood work done in the last 7 days)and the prescription that should cost me $20 OOP is going to be $290.
*Thunk* That's the sound of my jaw as it hit the floor.
Obviously I did NOT get the meds refilled.
Hey! Who needs medications anyway?
It's not one I need to take or I'll keel over dead.....at least not for awhile.
I've got a similar drug I was taking they changed to this one, so I'll just get the ok to go back on that one for now as I have something like a 2 months supply of it.
Hubs is having a procedure the end of the week which we WILL have to pay OOP for and since that will probably satisfy that $3K deductible I'll wait until after that payment gets into the system to go and attempt any more drug refills. I'm good with everything else for a couple of weeks so I'm hoping we can get this out of the way and back to paying sensible prices for meds.
If not, I'll go see if Walmart has any of my meds on their $4 list and transfer those over there which will help our bottom line.
I also have to find out if my various doctors(I have 5)take this new coverage, if the blood work lab will take this coverage, if the durable medical goods company will take this coverage and if the gastric surgery & nutrition classes will still be covered and if so, what percentages of each we will have to pay OOP.
This is going to be like a fulltime job for awhile, getting all the answers and everything sorted out!
Boy, am I going to give Hubs an earful when he gets home tonight! ;-)
Sluggy
