Almost a third of Americans say paying for drugs is a problem in their fam

[Judi Lynn]

Almost a third of Americans say paying for drugs is a problem in their families


By Will Lester
ASSOCIATED PRESS
3:30 p.m. February 23, 2004

WASHINGTON – Almost a third of Americans say paying for prescription drugs is a problem in their families, and many are cutting dosages to deal with the crunch, according to a poll by The Associated Press.

Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed in the AP-Ipsos poll said the government should make it easier to buy cheaper drugs from Canada or other countries.

Carol Valentine of Melbourne, Fla., said she lost her job after having surgery and faces $600 to $700 in drug bills each month without any insurance to pay for them.

Without a local clinic's help paying for those drugs, "I'd be dead," said Valentine, who is 52 and disabled. "A lot of people I know skip meals because they can't afford medicine."
(snip/...)

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/health/20040223-1530-appoll-prescriptiondrugs.html

[PsychoDad]

1. This winter has been particularly hard

With the very cold winter and the soaring gas prices :( I understand what it is like to have to decide between medication and another pressing need like gas for the car, heating bills or dinner.

And the prices for medication here in the US are so inflated compared to Canada.

[izzie]

5. But the Republics say it is your problem you did not save and

you lived to good. This is not because things cost to much or so they keep saying. And with all this tax money you should be fine.

[saigon68]

8. CHIMPANZEE McSHRUB cut out veteran's benefits for drugs

If you are not "service connected" no help.

It's also amazing to see the number of seniors who have no $$$$ to buy drugs but still vote for the mother fucker because he is AGAINST ABORTION.

The number of poor hunters who were in total fear because "GORE will take your GUNS away"

[Forkboy]

2. I've had to choose between food and meds

My wife is a pharmacist and one day a lady came in that needed meds for her husband that he had to have to literally stay alive.The total (with insurance) was over $900.The lady broke down and started crying in the store.

What the pharmaceutical companies are doing is a travesty.They're right up there with the oil industry for being king shitheels.

[yo-yo-ma]

3. another reason for single payer

as if we neede one
because unless we're super rich, we will all be there someday.

[izzie]

6. There is so much truth in that.

I can recall my father saying one of the reasons he worked twice the hours most men did when he was young was because my mother was so ill and he had to get her doctors etc. She died in her early 30's and at that time no one had care unless you could pay cash. I recall we had a very ill kid in our school and the church was every place trying to get money for his care.People did not get care many times as they just could not pay for it. Yet taxes kept hospitals, doctors training, and drug invention going. If the people pay for so much of this we should see some of the fall out.

[Barad Simith]

4. I had to quit smoking weed because of a shortage of $

and now all these Skittles and Chocolate Twizzlers are going stale

[kayell]

7. My family is in that one-third

My daughter does not have health insurance despite having a full time job, working as a montessori teacher. She had a choice between a very poor health insurance benefit and being able to have my granddaughter in the school she works at. She went with DGDs education.

She also suffers from major depression, as I do (it runs in the family unfortunately). She hasn't been able to afford meds. Recently we started splitting my prescription.

This isn't a good solution and I worry about it. She doesn't have a doctor of her own for backup. While I am doing fine on a low dosage and my doctor's prescription is higher than I need right now, I worry what will happen if I go into another MAJOR depression. But seeing my daughter in that kind of pain was horrible.

My health plan raised the copay on my meds to $40 a month because this isn't one of their preferred drugs. If any of you have ever had depression, you know that trying to find a med that works can be a long slow process. You don't want to start doing that again. So I'm pretty stuck with that raised rate. My daughter really doesn't even have the cash to split the cost with me, so we are just doing it hoping to save her sanity.

$40 may not sound a lot to some here, but it is a BIG deal in my budget. And I am certainly not poor. For this area I am doing fairly well. I have a full time job, that it looks like is safe for at least another year now, probably more.

I can't even imagine how most people here do it. The jobs have been leaking out of this state at a horrifying rate. This has been a textile manufacturing area and those jobs are going overseas. And yet still most here are pubbies. :eyes:

[Forkboy]

9. $40 sounds huge to me

it's almost exactly what my wife and I live on week to week.She makes ok money,but after the insurance-$52/week,her back child support-$130/week,and what we give to our landlord-$100/week (it's suppossed to be $550/month but thankfully he's been very cool so far) we have about $30-$40 a week to live on.That has to buy food,my meds (for depression also,and very high blood pressure),her meds (for hyperthyroidism),cat food for the two fuzzy pals we got,and her cancer sticks,er,ciggarettes.Hell,if AOL didn't keep sending me discs for free trials I wouldn't even be on the net :)

It's horrible that your daughter and yourself have to split your meds.Thankfully my copay is low on 2 of the 3 meds I take.I don't know how people like yourself and your daughter can get by.

One thing you can look into is generic meds.I just switched to a generic Paxil and it's working fine,and it's a lot cheaper (like $7 a month instead of $22).If you want I can ask my wife,whose a pharmicist,what generic meds are available for you if you want to PM me with the names of what you're both taking.

Good luck to you both,and hang in there.It's all we can do :)

[kayell]

11. RE: Generic meds

I thought about switching meds, but finding that this med worked took so long that I don't want to risk it. I went through 2 months of hell trying 2 other anti-depressants that didn't work for me or made me constantly nauseous. Doing it again could mean not only more psychic and physical pain, but also likely lost work time. I'm not willing to take the risk when even the monetary cost could be much higher than $40 a month.

This search for a med that works is not unusual for depression sufferers. It's a typical example of why the insurance companies limitations to "prefered" meds is such a scam. No consideration of individual cases. Just another cynical accounting decision to favor the bottom line over the lives of people.

I hope your situation improves. It is simply amazing that in the richest country in the world, people have to live with these kinds of choices - food or medicine. We really need universal health care.

[KayLaw]

10. Even with insurance

The price of medicine is ridiculously overpriced in this country. I'm surprised the number of people affected by the exorbitant prices is so low.

[Palacsinta]

12. Count me in.....

We're starting to pool our resources, too. My daughter has Bi-Polar disorder and often she'll come up short on med money each month....even though she has good insurance coverage....of course, she'll have that only as long as her husband keeps his job. (I can't even imagine what we'd do if he lost his job) Anyway, we've begun to help her out every month, something that isn't always easy for us, and even with our help, she's owes money at the psychiatrist, and she has, on increasingly frequent occasions, cut her dosage to make her meds last. She's mildly depressed right now,even on 5 meds......and I don't know how we're going to manage if she needs more drugs or is hospitalized again.

Good luck to all of us.....we need it, don't we?

[havocmom]

13. Add to that another third of the popuplation that can't even see a doctor

to get the perscription they would have trouble paying for and it means 2/3 of the population of 'the world's richest nation' is not getting what it needs to stay healthy and productive. there is something seriously wrong with that.

Regarding meds for depression: not only is it a tough process to find the right meds/dosage for each individual, the wrong med or dosage can be fatal. Psychoactive drugs are very stragne. What works well for one person may easily cause another to suicide. Insuracne companies and government mental health clinic do not always recognize that rather important point.

[Ilsa]

14. We're not there -- YET.

But if my husband's job gets outsourced, we'll lose his medical coverage on our son, who takes meds costing about $550 a month, and that's using the discount mail pharmacy. Even if he finds another job, I don't know if they'll cover our son due to it being a "pre-existing" illness.

I try not to lose sleep over it. I'm close enough to needing drugs of my own.