Monday, August 15, 2016

Medical Insurance Migraine

It's been about a month and a half since my last update, sorry about that.

I recently went on a vacation with my family which was a blast. I'll do a catch-up post on that later. But the real reason why I haven't updated is because I haven't been able to take my narcolepsy medication.


Without it, I'm tired all the time and lethargic. Trying to stay awake drains me of all excess energy beyond the basics of what is required. It's been over a month now that this has been going on. It first started with the fact that the date for my final refill of a 6 month prescription expired before I could get that last refill. (The medicine I take is a controlled substance so I have to go in twice a year to have a new prescription written up. It's stupid, I know) I can't refill a prescription sooner than 30 days since the previous one, so because life gets in the way sometimes I get my refill 32 days later. Well, it appears five instances like that made it so I missed my expiration date by a few days.

Still with me? So once I discovered the prescription expired, I needed to make an appointment to get another one. Unfortunately, as you are all quite aware of, you need to schedule doctor appointments two months in advance! I had a few pills left over, so I saved them for the days I worked to stretch them out until the date of my appointment.

The date comes (oh and I ended up switching to a doctor closer to me because my previous doctor moved offices, this is important later) and I get the prescription so it's all great. I wasn't able to bring it into the pharmacy for two days, but after nearly a month it wasn't a big deal.

Guess what happens when I go to the pharmacy? The insurance changed their policy! Now I needed a prior authorization in order for them to help pay for it! Before I got my awesome hospital insurance, I had to pay over $100 for my meds, but now I only have to pay $5. You can bet I was going to wait for the insurance.

Obviously that was frustrating. At that point I was so worn out I went back into my car, screamed, and may have cried a little. (Chronic fatigue is no laughing matter, okay? Plus I'm more prone to mild depression without my meds)

The misery doesn't end there, though. The pharmacy said they'd contact my doctor and fax it over, so then he could sign it and send it to the insurance company, they'd approve it, and then I'd finally get my medicine. So I grimace and bear it, but after a few days pass I decide to check up on the pharmacy. They haven't gotten anything, so I call the doctor. The office hasn't gotten anything so they call the pharmacy to request it again. Turns out the pharmacy sent it to the wrong office (because I changed my doctor, though how they sent it to the wrong one eludes me). When the office FINALLY gets the fax, it apparently takes them a few days to get it done. Why?--I don't know.

The smart thing would have been to nag and call everyone about this from the beginning. I should have called and discovered the discrepancies myself instead of a week later. But being off my medication means I don't have the energy or drive to do anything! I need my medicine to get things done, but I need to get things done to get the medicine. Does that make sense? I'm sure there's a specific word that describes that situation but I can't think of it at the moment. Remember, I still don't have my medicine so forgive my literary ineptitude.

Anyway, today the prior authorization should go through, and I can pick up my meds before work tonight. You can bet I'm going to nag the insurance office though, just to be safe. Once I get my meds and no longer feel like dozing on the floor 24/7, I can actually be productive again!

Fingers crossed!

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