Friday, June 25, 2010

Success

It might seem that I'm obsessed with my medication, as this is another post about it. It isn't an obsession, exactly, it is mainly fueled by frustration. When I was suffering from depression about ten years ago I was first prescribed Prozac. I quickly discovered that the side effects were more than I was willing to endure. My doctor switched me to Welbutrin and it worked really well for me. At the time my insurance covered name brand prescriptions with a $40 co-pay after I met the $150 deductible. Generics were cheaper. Fast forward a few years and to a different insurance plan.

I signed up for my current insurance about five years ago. At the time they covered mental health but they only covered generic prescriptions. I have a huge deductible for name brand medications, so I just don't take them. After a year on my new insurance they decided to drop the mental health coverage, including prescriptions. Since then I've been surviving by using SAM-e and willpower until this latest depression. I did a lot of research and couldn't find any prescription drug program that included the generic for Welbutrin, until Walgreens started theirs. At first I thought I was limited to the dosage listed on their plan, but recently I discovered that they'd cover higher dosages at a slightly higher cost. So I'm now taking four 75 mg tablets a day for $24.00 for a 90 day supply! This is wonderful! The price for the 300 mg extended release is over $100 so I'm getting quite a deal.

The irony here that I've experienced many times is that in order to get help for mental health issues you have to be mentally healthy enough to pursue all of your options. No one seems to get that when you are depressed just getting out of bed is a challenge, talking to anyone about your issues is a major challenge and trying to do anything out of the ordinary is an insurmountable challenge. All of those people who feel that their insurance is just fine and any government plan would be a burden should thank their lucky stars that they have good insurance or have never been sick.

5 comments:

  1. Hi Joy!

    Thanks for stopping by the Over 40 Bloggers I added your blog to the list!!

    Thanks for joining the party!

    You might want to check out my Meet Me On Monday blog hop! Its another great way to meet other and to get more followers!!

    Have a great weekend!
    Java

    Hope you get lots of followers from it! Including me!! Please follow me back if you haven’t done so already!!

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  2. I too had a problem with Humana Insurance.
    Was taking Welbutrin & my daughter in law who is an RN told me that a generic was just as good.
    I pay for Humana but get no RX's from them.
    Instead I go to WalMart and tell them I have no RX insurance. Get my med's, including the generic for Welbutrin for $10 each for a 3 month supply. Can't beat it.
    I'd be in the Poor House otherwise.

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  3. It's not fair when an insurance company can tell you what medicines you can take and what you can take when you pay for your insurance and pay plenty. I had to fight for my Celebrex and won, sorta. That is if I can afford $80.00 a month and I can't but they say I can have it if I pay for it. I wish there was a generic for it but not yet I guess.
    Found you from 40 and over bloggers. Take care and God Bless!!!

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  4. Very wise thing you said there about needing to be healthy enough to fight for yourself. It is a sad irony that depression will rob most people of that ability, leaving them to suffer in silence.

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  5. So true!! Come over to Midchix and link up your blog missy!!!
    http://www.midchix.com/

    ReplyDelete