Having a bit of a breakdown here. Walgreens (or our insurance) suddenly decided that my IBS maintenance medication needs to triple in price. I need this medication to live any semblance of a normal life, and I switched to this one in part to cut the cost for my breadwinner spouse. Spouse is otherwise awesome, but sometimes a little absentminded, and I just start crying every time I have an expensive medication and they come home and ask me in that semi-accusative tone, "Did you know that your medication is hella expensive?", which just starts the negative feedback loop in my depression. And then the next month they forget that we had the conversation/crying/suicidal impulses and do it again, and I just can't take it anymore.
Luckily, I saved the slip from last month that has the old price on it, so hopefully we'll be able to work with Walgreens/insurance to bust it back down. I might have to get the medication through the insurance company's mail delivery, but it is a temperature sensitive medication (can't get too hot or too cold) and we live in motherfucking Arizona, so I'd like to avoid that route if possible.
ETA: I didn't realize how much better just typing it out would make me feel! Thanks, mental health GAF!
@LordAmused - I've been on Zoloft a couple of times in the last 20 years, and the lowest dose just makes me high as a kite. Never had a bad withdrawal from it, but if you're on the highest dose, you're going to want to taper back down gradually. Work with your doctor or therapist!
God fuck insurance.
This reminds me, I have been to hell and back ever since I got on my new insurance in December.
Back in December I paid my first premium, seemed to go okay. It wasn't collected immediately. Then we're halfway through January and I haven't gotten a bill, cards, or anything yet. Then I get a letter from the insurance company saying I entered my payment information, but my payment wasn't collected because of a problem with their payment system. They said it would be soon, and I could file for reimbursement for any medications I needed.
So I needed to pick up a prescription (allergy medicine), and it was $115 out of pocket. I paid it, filed for reimbursement. I had checked before I picked this insurance plan that it was covered.
File for reimbursement, a week or two later I get a letter saying it's denied and applied toward a deductible. At this point I'm like "WTF, there was no fucking deductible and this shit should have been covered?!" I call them and ask what happened, and they tell me that mine was the "0.5", instead of the other ones, therefore it's a Tier C and goes toward the deductible.
A month later I need to go pick up my Wellbutrin. I go to pick it up, and suddenly, my insurance is rejected. I had autopay on, and didn't see a single bill, what the fuck happened. I call my insurance, they tell me all because of the payment system screwup in December, it acted like I didn't pay for the next month, even though I did, and terminated my account. They restored it, it worked.
The next months, this happens AGAIN. I call the insurance, furious at this point, and tell them what happened. They fix it, tell me it should at the very least work for the next 24 hours. I go back up to the counter and....it doesn't fucking work. I call them again, I'm getting very angry with them at this point, explain the situation once again, take the guy on the phone's name down. I'm on hold for 15 minutes again while they fix it, and this time when they come back I tell them they are going to stay on the phone with me while I pay the $5 for my medication. It finally works. I was guaranteed that this would not happen again.
The other day I had my Lamotrigine to pick up. I go to pick it up and....insurance denied, unpaid premiums. So I ask for a piece of paper and a pen, call the company once again. I explain the whole situation, how this has happened every single month, I'm sick and tired of it, I want it fixed and I want it fixed for good.
This time, their autopay system fucked up (keep in mind I STILL have not seen any bills) and didn't collect my payment for March or April. I WAS TOLD LAST TIME I WAS ON AUTOPAY SO IT WOULD BE FINE THAT I HAD NO BILLS. They acknowledged it was their fault, but then an even larger curveball came: They told me that I made an $804 payment earlier. At this point I actually asked the rep "Is this a joke?" I told them I did no such thing, and wanted to know what the hell happened. Well he put me on hold, and said he was talking to the billing supervisor or something.
About 10 minutes pass, the rep comes back and tells me he's got the billing manager on the line and he's going to have me talk to him. The billing manager explains to me that the autopayment system screwed up, and my money wasn't collected for two months. He told me I could make the payment now and it would be fine, and just when I get a chance delete my autopay and set it up again. He said this was their fault. I asked about the $800 and he investigated that. That was apparently someone else's payment intended for their account. They asked me if I had ever been associated with a last name that I wasn't associated with at all, located in Florida. So some poor guy in Florida was probably wondering where the hell his $800 went! United Healthcare is fucking incompetent when it comes to billing!
I asked him if this would ever happen again, and he said "theoretically it should never happen again". I'm sure I'll be back on the phone with these people. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, and will be going to the Texas Insurance Commissioner. What a joke.