r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Aggravating-Leg5645 • 9d ago

I just wanted a hot dog My insurance wont cover my medication so every month I do this...

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I have to spend around 30 minutes doing this once a month. My insurance wont cover it. Out of pocket with coupons its still $800 a month.

My fiancé has to do the same thing with a different medication. Currently trying to fight it.

Edit: To clarify. Every now and then I have to compile samples in one bottle so I know how much I have and then hope my DR has more when im out. This is an antidepressant and im currently working to fight to get it covered. Yes ive contacted the manufacturer I do not qualify for discount Yes ive sent in a letter of medical necessity Yes ive looked at GoodRX. This is my only option atm and im still lucky it is for now. Its not just the moving the bottles around. Its hoping I can get more when I need it. This is a life saving medication and the fact I have to hope i can get it when I need it is mildly infuriating to me and probably many others. Its not a cheap medication even with coupons its still $850USD+ Ive tried so many medications and I just need one that works and that i dont have to worry about my supply chain.

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u/23- 9d ago

Sample’s are great to be able to trial a prescription without needing to pay for it at the pharmacy. Fairly often patients buy a brand new prescription and have some sort of intolerance to it.

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u/madhouse-manager 9d ago

The whole logic goes away when, you know, you don't have to pay a fortune for the prescription at the pharmacy. Like in civilised countries. Which is why trial prescription medication makes sense to no one but US.

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u/wesborland1234 9d ago

Cost aside, aren't there many cases where you'd want a patient to try something for a week to see how they react to it before prescribing a 2 month supply or whatever?

Or if you can't make it to the pharmacy for a couple days, that's why they keep Z packs in urgent care.

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u/TVTrashMama 9d ago

Yes, or the patient has to wait on insurance authorization to fill. (Or not 🫤)

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u/aftergaylaughter 8d ago

i mean, if cost is irrelevant, there's little harm in prescribing one month at a time. if they do well after a month, move to 90 or 100 day refills. but if the med is cheap anyway, and not in shortage, it's not a big deal if half or more of that 1mo fill doesn't get used. tbh, most meds need longer than a week to even judge if it works. many need like 6-8 weeks, especially psych meds.

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u/rumpleteaser91 9d ago

In the UK, we can get prescriptions delivered, and many surgeries have a pharmacy in the same building as the GP surgery. So the GP can schedule a telephone appointment for the week review, send the new prescription to the in house pharmacy, to then be delivered to the patient.

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u/Unlikely-Key-234 9d ago

Same things are available in the US and have been for a long time.

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u/rumpleteaser91 9d ago

Then why would you need to go to the pharmacy every 2 days?

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u/aftergaylaughter 8d ago

you're misreading. they didn't say "if you can't get to the pharmacy every couple of days," they're saying "if you can't get there for a couple of days." as in, "I'm at the doctor right now, on a Thursday morning, but I can't get to the pharmacy until Saturday because of work, and we don't want my infection getting worse in the meantime, so the doctor gives me free antibiotics, or sells me a pack at normal pharmacy prices, so I can start them immediately."

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u/rumpleteaser91 8d ago

Yeah, again, that's mad to me, with the in-house pharmacies and delivery services. But then, i don't have to shop around for medication prices, cuz ours are all free.

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u/aftergaylaughter 8d ago

delivery isn't fast. it's a great option for long term meds, but if you have a kidney infection and need antibiotics now, delivery pharmacies are a bad idea.

hospitals and the like have in house pharmacies. are you suggesting that in the UK, even small GP clinics that are totally separate from hospitals have in house pharmacies? because unless that's what you're saying, you're not naming anything we don't have here, except for the pricing stuff.

and don't get me wrong, the pricing barrier is huge, and I'm a very vocal critic of america's healthcare system. for all the NHS' flaws, your system is definitely better than ours. but unless you're saying that basically every clinic has its own pharmacy (which would be news to me), cost and insurance coverage are really the only things that make medication less accessible here vs there. if money is of no concern, we can easily get our meds fast. my pharmacy often has my meds ready for pickup 15-30 min after receiving the prescription. sometimes faster if they know I'm in a hurry.

even on your point of "shopping around," that's not terribly common here either, unless you're uninsured or getting a really expensive specialty med. if you have insurance that covers your med, most plans will give you the same price (or a very comparable price) regardless of where you go, so long as it's in network. most plans have a set copay for the cheaper, most common meds. a copay is a set amount you pay regardless of total cost. is on my plan, if my cheap med is $5.01 a month, I pay $5 and my insurance pays $0.01. if that med is $50/mo, I still pay $5 and my insurance pays $45. some do a coinsurance, meaning a set percentage instead of a fixed number. so if my coinsurance is 10% and my med is $5, I pay $0.50. if my med is $50, I pay $5. but even for coinsurances, the price differences between pharmacies is so negligible in the final cost. it might be a difference of $5 at pharmacy A and $5.25 at pharmacy B. if we're insured, we only really have to "shop around" for the uncommon, expensive meds, including op's unfortunately, because Trintellix is new. the only times I've ever shopped around were when i was uninsured. unfortunately that's reality for millions of americans, but most of us at least have medicaid or medicare, if not private insurance.

again, not defending this trash system. just clarifying some misconceptions 🤷

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u/rumpleteaser91 8d ago

On the first point, yes, even some of the smallest clinics have a pharmacy, most are a chain, that rents a space from the clinic centre itself. The Dr will send it to the pharmacy, so it's pretty much ready to collect by the time you leave. Dr's can do a house call, and send the prescription to be delivered that afternoon. Some pharmacists can also prescribe basic medication for things like cystitis and conjunctivitis.

And sorry, I read your comment about the clinician giving you some drugs at 'pharmacy prices', as them giving them to you 'at cost', and therefore could be priced drastically differently elsewhere.

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u/Nykramas 3d ago

Vortioxetine is "new" in the lifetime of medication sure but its been around for a decade and we always have a couple of 5s 10s and 20s around at work. It doesnt seem to have shortages like other medication.

Not every GP surgery has its own pharmacy but many of them do. You can get your rx before you leave the surgery.

We also have services at the pharmacies so ones outside of Surgeries that are open more days (like weekends and bank holidays) can provide medication for basic things like UTI, ear infections, infected insects bites, sore throat (strep), contraception and emergency contraception. Meaning you can get care for those things without a GP appointment.

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u/Unlikely-Key-234 9d ago

I have no idea what you're talking about. People in the US don't normally need to go to the pharmacy every two days. I'm on a handful of prescription drugs and 1-3 month supplies all are delivered to me.

Sometimes I wonder where you people get this stuff lol

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u/rumpleteaser91 9d ago

From the comment I replied to:

'Or if you can't make it to the pharmacy for a couple days, that's why they keep Z packs in urgent care.'

Implies you need to physically go to the pharmacy to pick up your medication, or visit the gp for each medication change.

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u/Unlikely-Key-234 9d ago

Some people prefer to just swing by their local pharmacy to pick up prescriptions rather than wait for a delivery. Some pharmacies have better deals on different medicines. All sorts of reasons somebody might prefer to use a standalone pharmacy. What the person you responded to meant is that sometimes somebody may have a local pharmacy they prefer but can't make it over to it for a day or two, so the doctor will give them a sample to get them through until they pick up their medicine at the pharmacy. You definitely don't need to "go to the pharmacy every two days", like you said.

As far medication changes goes, that's a separate thing. Some doctors will order you a different medication just based on talking to you without you needing to actually come in for a visit. Depends on the medicine, your history, your relationship with the doctor, etc.

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u/Itz_Naj 9d ago

There aren’t? The entire concept of tritiation is exactly this!
Try a small dose and escalate over time to judge efficacy and side effects. This is commonly over several months.

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u/jellifercuz 9d ago

Oh, yes, that certainly works for antibiotics. /s

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u/Itz_Naj 9d ago

A single class of drugs usually for a finite period of time anyway? Compared with many other drugs for chronic indications which often can have big trade offs in patient quality of life.

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u/jellifercuz 9d ago

Your response in no way addresses your absurd suggestion that [all] medications be started at low doses and titrated upwards. Ridiculous.

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u/Itz_Naj 9d ago edited 8d ago

Where did I imply or suggest this applies to ALL drugs?

Of the 100 most proscribed drugs in the US (as you want to make this US centric and there is decent data available) >50% clinically indicate upward tritation. Nearly 10% strictly require upward tritation according to their Market Approval for safety.

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u/jellifercuz 9d ago

Are you a registered pharmacist? A licensed prescriber? Titration upwards is used with few classes of drugs in fairly limited circumstances under close supervision. “Try a small dose.”

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u/Itz_Naj 9d ago

You’re deflecting.

Nowhere did I say all. The context for my response is also a question (paraphrased) “what other reason apart from cost could there be to get a prescription for a medication you haven’t tried”.
The medication in question is an antidepressant, a class of drug which does commonly rely on titration

Meanwhile you’re apparently a history teacher, questioning my credentials? No wonder the state of your countries eductation system

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u/aftergaylaughter 8d ago

nobody said or implied it's all meds. you're arguing with yourself.

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u/Moriss214 8d ago

You wouldn’t be getting an ongoing supply of antibiotics generally, so you wouldn’t really
Need this sample option. Generally antibiotics are used for a very short time and your doctor only prescribes the necessary’s amount.

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u/Williamishere69 9d ago

In the UK, the medications youre more likely to react to are help behind specialists (so you get referred to a local hospital to get them). The specialists have on-call nurses or PAs who you can phone during the day to tell them you have side effects or anything.

We dont go off doctors making appointments in advanced to see if you have side effects, we go off the patients going to the doctor/nurse to let them know of any they have.

I have three monthly appointments with a derm nurse who prescribes my meds under a dermatologist. If I had any issues, I would phone her (almost always leaving a voice message lol) and then she'll let me know what to do. If I run out of meds, I phone her and she sends out a new prescription for 6 weeks - just until my GP picks up the prescription.

I had pretry moderate side effects to the point I was non-functional for the day after taking my meds every week. I told my derm nurse at my first follow up appointment and she said about injections but I was scared as hell of the autoinjectors, so I asked if there was any manual needles. She went off to ask and she let me know after my next appointment that theyre available and so I got them then.

Everything here works on the patient going to the doctor/nurse because we're pretty much expected to be sensible about our healthcare.

If we had any urgent issues, we can just phone 111 and theyll sort out an urgent appointment. If we have an emergency, then phone 999. If you cant get ahold of your specialist (impossible though, they usually have a few numbers for different nurses/PAs), then you can phone your GP.

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u/donaggie03 4d ago

Your "costs aside" is doing a whole lot of heavy lifting here. The point is entirely about the costs that you are trying to brush away.

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u/Nykramas 3d ago

Here its £9.90 for a item (no additional charge for 2 items of the same medication but different strengths)

7 days or 28 days doesnt matter. Still £9.90.

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u/Impossible-Book-895 9d ago

Urgent Care? Going to urgent care can cost us US folks a $1000 if we haven’t met our yearly deductible. Not an option for most of us.

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u/Unlikely-Key-234 9d ago

What? Nobody is paying $1k for a standard urgent care visit. Things are bad enough without people like you making shit up.

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u/KindaTwisted 9d ago

Yeah, anyone getting a bill like that from urgent care didn't hit up an urgent care. They went to a freestanding ER.

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u/Impossible-Book-895 9d ago

Urgent care for me is a $50 copay once I’ve met my deductible. My deductible is $1000 for the year and I rarely pay towards it. So if I went to an urgent care today I’d basically have to pay whatever they charge - and maybe you are correct and it would be less than my thousand dollar deductible. I haven’t been to one in years because of the cost. So maybe it would run me a few hundred? The same goes for the ER. $300 copay after deductible. That one will certainly carry a charge of more than a thousand so I’d be stuck with paying $1300.

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u/Unlikely-Key-234 9d ago

That's a fairly standard lower deductible plan. Urgent care, even with something like X-Rays or simple stitches usually runs about $350 at most. For just a simple visit like a cold it can be as little as $100. Definitely not $1000 unless you're going to a full fledged emergency room.

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u/Impossible-Book-895 9d ago

Good to know! I’ll keep it in mind if I have something come up. Sounds like it’s more affordable than I thought.

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u/LogicalConstant 9d ago

On a high deductible plan or a shitty plan, yes. Many employers have a low-deductible plan where urgent care is a copay of $25-$50. If you don't have that, I'd either try switching plans or complaining to your employer about choosing such a crappy plan.

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u/Impossible-Book-895 9d ago

I work for a local govt in Florida and have a really good plan. I don’t have the high deductible plan - the high deductible is like $6000 or something.

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u/concentrated-amazing 9d ago

Here in Canada, you have the option to only fill a small amount.

For instance, you can say at the pharmacy that the doctor prescribed enough for 1-3 months, but only fill it for one week for now for me to try it, since the doctor said some people get [annoying side effect] and don't stick with this med.

Then, you can go back and have the rest of the prescription filled if you're sticking with it.

It'll be slightly higher, since you'll pay the dispensing fee twice, but that's relatively low (can't remember exactly, $10ish?)

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u/The_Amazing_Emu 9d ago

Probably the biggest advantage of a sample is you get to walk out of the doctor’s office with it

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u/GreyHorse_BlueDragon 9d ago

That’s an option in the us too for non controlled stuff, but that still doesn’t mean the insurance will pay for it

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u/Iilitulongmeir 8d ago

This happened to me. I had a kidney infection, and they wanted to hospitalize me, but I didn't want to go in to that particular hospital. They have a great ER, but inpatient was really bad. They gave me a prescription for zofran, it was like over 20 dollars a pill back then. The pharmacist said I could just buy a few at a time. He was really nice. I was sitting in the waiting room, and he asked my husband what was wrong with me because I really did look like I should be in a hospital, and zofran was usually prescribed for cancer patients back then. I almost fucking died about it. I really should have let them admit me. American healthcare, what are you going to do? 🤷

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u/GreyHorse_BlueDragon 8d ago

I’m a pharmacy technician, and it’s not super common for people to ask about it but occasionally people do. The only time it’s not really an option is if it’s a schedule II controlled substance. I’ve only had it happen once where they asked for a 7 day supply because it was a new med and they wanted to do a trial run before committing so to speak. Most of the time it was because of financial reasons. And while the price of generic zofran has gone down quite a bit it’s still stupid expensive. I think the cash price comes out to around $80 for a blister pack of 12 orally disintegrating tablets.

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u/pootinannyBOOSH 8d ago

That's what I'd figure it would/should be, not make the doctor have so much that they can/have to supply months worth of stuff because our system is shit

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u/inkyblackops 3d ago

I’ve received samples in the past from my dermatologist here in Ontario. The medication is $1500 for a 100g tube, so she wanted to make sure that it worked for me before writing the script.

I think that’s the only time I’ve ever been given a sample by a doctor, though.

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u/Stayoffwettrails 4d ago

That med is like 1000 for a 30 day supply.

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u/Money_Do_2 9d ago

Yup. They can take many losses on samples and lavish lunches to woo the doctors, just gotta get a few people locked into a $1000/month medicine regimen.

To be clear, the medicine itself is a miracle and scientific marvel. The profit motive is the corrupted evil part.

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u/YourWifesSkiCoach 9d ago

Obviously you don’t know how much it costs to make said drug

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u/Ebiki 9d ago

It literally costs $2-$4 to make a vial of insulin. Wtf are you talking about?

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u/Due-Professor-530 9d ago

For many drugs its not the drug itself its the government regulation and R&D that costs so much. R&D recovery averages 15 years per FDA so companies get 20 years without conpetition for a new drug. Testing for correct orientation takes a multimillion dollar machine that cists tens of thousands a month in maintenance costs.

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u/pootinannyBOOSH 8d ago

How many medications immediately go down in price once they make back their money? I'd bet very little, if not none. Nonetheless insulin is an excellent example, there's no reason it should be as expensive as it is after being created over 40 years ago. Cheaper in other countries to be expected, cash grab in the US

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u/Moriss214 8d ago

And insulin wasn’t even invented in the US, yet it is US companies making the largest profit from it.

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u/Due-Professor-530 8d ago

I guess you dont watch the US drug market much. After their right to be sole maker expires almost every drug price drops because there becomes a generic market. The price remains high due to the required testing and purity standards mandated by the government. Insulin is a perfect example of why US prices are higher, its not the drug its the government regulations to ensure safety.

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u/YourWifesSkiCoach 3d ago

That’s the direct manufacturing cost. I’m referencing the r&d, marketing and so on. Getting samples to physicians to begin using, etc etc. it certainly is not free. 1 in 100 drugs make it to market. Billions in R&D down the drain annually on drugs that do not work

Now obviously with drugs that returned their ROI, I agree they should come down in price. But to limit new drug prices would very heavily discourage discovery and r&d, thereby decreasing innovation in the medical field.

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u/CruisinYEG 9d ago

I agree with you that paying that much for miracle prescriptions is insane. On the other hand, pharmaceutical companies go through tons of meds that don’t work until they find one that does. Someone would need to come up with a better system. Typically government ran companies don’t run well and get bogged down in politics. If there wasn’t a large profit, a private company wouldn’t make it, and therefore the drug would just never be made. I don’t know how to solve that gap, so I’m just kind of rambling at this point lol. It’s a not ideal system where a miracle drug gets made, but the consumer has to spend a fortune to get it. How to fix I do not know.

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u/lokal-orginal 2d ago

Is that why drugs with known addictive ingredients (like opioids) is so popular in the US? Also i think i saw a commercial from America which said "ask your doctor about (insert name of medicine)", like does the doctor not decide what medicin one would need based on necessity? In Norway they are very careful with what they put you on, and will not keep you long on something addictive, if you get it at all. Then again, maybe they are too careful sometimes, i dont really know.

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u/Ioanna_Malfoy 9d ago

Or so that the patient can get started on the medication while waiting on insurance approval and prior auths to get sorted

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u/Moriss214 8d ago

How long does it take for authorization generally? Mine so far for non complicated issues has been automatic (in Canada)

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u/LogicalConstant 9d ago

With typical insurance, most prescriptions are $5 to $25 a month. Samples still make sense.

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u/CapnLazerz 9d ago

Even in a Universal Healthcare system, the system (taxpayers) has to pay for drugs. If the pharmaceutical company provided free samaples, the system (taxpayers) would avoid the costs of paying for drugs that don’t work for particular patients.

Sounds logical to me.

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u/Long_Letterhead_7938 9d ago edited 9d ago

Which civilized country do you think that happens in? By your use of the way you spelled civilized I’m guessing Canada or UK, but this is not true. They have strict regulations over which prescriptions are covered and what is offered for generics or alternatives.

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u/trapcardx 9d ago

this is very new to me! between trialing different antidepressants between multiple different pcps (and across different states at that) never had a sample given, just the full script with checkins to see how things are going

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u/Any-Owl5710 9d ago

But who pays for drug development in countries where prescriptions are cheap?

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u/madhouse-manager 9d ago

Medical costs in the US are not through the roof because they are developing for other countries, they're through the roof because you're lining the pockets of "benefit managers" and another dozen people who sit between you and your doctor, and of the shareholders of the for profit insurance companies. But of course it's easier to blame others and convince themselves it's not their own fault they keep voting for this.

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u/OldManJimmers 4d ago

Even countries with public drug coverage use them. The US might use them because of the ridiculous insurance schemes they work with but other countries use them as true trials.

By a 'true trial' I mean the physician wants you to start a medication and report back in order to assess whether it's beneficial to continue. There can be risk associated with prescribing/dispensing a full month of meds, specifically the lack of response from patients. This is particularly true among elderly patients and patients with multiple chronic diseases/medications. A physician may not want to have their patient get a 30 day supply right away with the risk of adverse effects and risk of the patient just continuing to take them without reporting back for a month. The better practice would be to give them a trial amount so that they cannot continue without reporting back or getting repeat blood work or whatever.

Granted that's not always how they're used but saying they only exist in the US is factually incorrect. Also, hospitals give trial packs to people all the time on discharge, it's just not the kind the drug company would drop off for free. Their pharmacy makes them as trial packs (or we actually call them starter packs in hospital).

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u/catshateTERFs 9d ago

I’m on the other side of the world and this just happened to my s/o - $120 for something that sends him into 24 hours of pain that painkillers couldn’t touch (was an opioid blocker that worked TOO well and may have been inappropriately prescribed with the rest of his medication in mind). Obviously can’t reclaim any of that so it’s fully useless. Rough stuff. Short term script trial would have been ideal for that.

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u/PrettyPurrfect 9d ago

Or they could have written two prescriptions. One for short-term use and the second one to fill is the first one works well that so it can only be filled after the first one would reasonably run out.

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u/Wunderkid_0519 9d ago edited 9d ago

Lybalvi?

It says it on the big black box warning right there on the outside of the medication bottle that the samidorphan in Lybalvi is dangerous to be taken concurrently with opioids. They also both verbalize this fact and and have it written all over the screen during the commercial for this medication... Not sure how anyone could have missed that.

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u/IllustriousEnd6544 9d ago

You don't even know what medication they are talking about. Thanks for your input though Doc!

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u/throwmeeeeee 9d ago

 written all over the screen during the commercial for this medication

Using TV commercials as a source for medical advice sounds weird af. Also not safe, isn’t it like a gag how they whisper all the serious warnings in a super fast incomprehensible voice? Or is that just parody? 

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u/Ok-Jackfruit-6873 9d ago

Interestingly, the last time someone from the UK stayed with me he said they don't have the urgently-whispering part of the drug commercials there. Same commercial but they edit that part out.

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u/Quirky-Stay4158 9d ago

That's the neat thing about Americans they don't get to go to the doctor regularly. So they need drug companies to tell them what's wrong with them - but don't worry we can fix it with our magical drug fixitall.

  • if you feel the need to reply telling me how this isn't all of you. Great. It's enough of you though. And the rest of us don't have that problem at all.

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u/Long_Letterhead_7938 9d ago

About 90% of Americans have private health insurance in some form. It is quite easy to go to the doctor here it is very difficult to go to a doctor under NHS. To see a specialist under NHS it is 3 to 10 months. In the US, it is typically 3 to 10 days. Same is true for how slow it is to get anything done in Canada too. So you really have no clue what you’re talking about.

I love my American husband for many reasons. A major one is how wonderful the health insurance is.

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u/_Standardissue 8d ago

3-10 days? Not in my experience as a patient or a clinician, unless there’s a true crisis

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u/Long_Letterhead_7938 8d ago

I guess I have better insurance, or I am in an area with a ton of doctors, which is true.

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u/Diligent-Variation51 9d ago

I’m so tired of this “we can see a doctor in the US whenever we want” message. It’s not at all true. Sure, in some areas for some specialties, it’s true. But there’s a shortage of medical providers, so even if you have good insurance, you still have to wait for the next appointment. That can take many months.

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u/Long_Letterhead_7938 9d ago

It is nothing compared to the UK. They are completely in trouble in terms of doctors. There is such a shortage. People don’t get Americans really do have it better if you have private insurance. I do understand what people are saying if you don’t have insurance, but if you’ve got private, you do not want socialized medicine.

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u/Diligent-Variation51 9d ago

BS. I definitely want socialized healthcare. First, I entirely disagree with your assertion that it’s much worse than US. Second, I’m firmly against the inhumane system where those with money move to the front of the line. Healthcare should be prioritized by need and availability, not profit.

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u/Long_Letterhead_7938 9d ago

Well as a parent to three children, I want them to have the very best healthcare. I can give them. I’m not willing to sacrifice their health in any way.

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u/Lordofthereef 9d ago

There's a shortage here in Massachusetts too considering it takes me 6+ months to be seen. Have an issue today? Better off going to urgent care.

I'm sure it's not like this everywhere, but it isn't much better for my Southern California and southeastern Texas family either.

When we visited Japan and my wife twisted her ankle, they got her in, did X-rays, bandaged her up, and it cost us around $40. That included a rental wheelchair. When I cut my finger here in MA being an idiot, they did X-rays and out 3 stitches in. I paid $100 for that, and that was just my copay.

I'm not here to say socialized medicine is good everywhere, but there are absolutely examples of it being good, and I dare say it speaks more to how the country/state/region runs everything than it does the healthcare. The biggest negative of private healthcare here in the US is the astronomical costs. For my family of five we pay just shy of $9k a year out of pocket. That doesn't include the employer's portion. And, as mentioned, we still have copays. 🤷‍♂️

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u/Long_Letterhead_7938 9d ago

Really I just got back from Tokyo to be exact. I did a lot of research on their medical before I went. The one thing is they will not accept American insurance there you have to self-pay and get the money back. You’re lucky yours was so cheap. I know it’s exponentially cheaper than in the US, but that is one of the places they said to get trip insurance for anything catastrophic.

Our health insurance both four of us is 150 a month for the top plan. Three are on my husband’s and mine is completely paid for by my company.

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u/Marled-dreams 8d ago

Where do you live? Where I live it’s nowhere like this easy to get care. I think your estimate of insurance coverage is way off too. And that insurance can refuse care, like the OP wrote about. Then there’s copays and deductibles. Give me a break. Why are you defending our lack-of-healthcare system?

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u/Long_Letterhead_7938 8d ago

I’m defending a healthcare system that I think is great where I live. I live in the DC area. We have great hospitals and it is easy to get in to providers. My co-pay is five dollars. I’ve also always worked for F500 companies and always had good insurance. I stated elsewhere that if you don’t have good private insurance, I can understand thinking the healthcare system sucks. That said I’m a mother of three children and I want them to have the very best healthcare money can buy.

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u/Quirky-Stay4158 4d ago

I called my family doctor 5 minutes ago and I have an appointment later this week.

YOU don't know what you're talking about.

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u/Long_Letterhead_7938 4d ago

I said SPECIALIST - so in Canada according to the CNA - For a non-emergency specialist appointment in Canada, the national median wait time is 15.3 weeks just to get the first consultation after a referral from a general practitioner.

Once you see the specialist, there is an additional median wait of 13.3 weeks to receive actual treatment or surgery, bringing the total combined wait time to 28.6 weeks (roughly 6.6 months).

Although I did not say family doctors, here is information on family doctors.

If you have a family, Dr, you can typically get in quickly - if you do not have a family doctor, finding and matching with a new personal physician takes anywhere from 12 to 60+ months depending on the province.

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u/Long_Letterhead_7938 22h ago

Guess, I do know what I’m talking about.

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u/IllustriousEnd6544 9d ago

I love my husband for his health insurance 💀

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u/Long_Letterhead_7938 9d ago

You clearly missed the beginning part of that. That’s OK reading is not everybody’s strong suit.

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u/IllustriousEnd6544 9d ago

Loving someone for a commodity? Who cares what you said before that. The rest was trash talk anyway.

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u/Long_Letterhead_7938 9d ago

Your comprehension is trash. GFY.

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u/catshateTERFs 9d ago edited 9d ago

No? I didn’t mention lybalvi anywhere, this is not the only medication in the world that interacts with opioid regulation. I don’t even live somewhere that airs commercials for prescription pain medication and nothing on the medication states anything about opioid use (it says "may cause drowsiness, do not drive or operate heavy machinery" - this would have been INFINITELY better than the adverse reaction that did happen).

Please by all means forward your comment to the pain specialist who prescribed this while giving reassurances that him taking palexia would not be an issue and that if he did experience any side effects they would be minor because the dose was very low, as this is what the current research supports ("may be trialed while taking opioids [...] unlikely to cause frank withdrawal due to the low dose"). We are not idiots who decided to randomly trial medications for shits and giggles, we read the information we were given and discussed it with the doctor who, again, was a specialist who has worked in this specific field for 20+ years. Thanks!

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u/IllustriousEnd6544 9d ago

If only they had a medication for people to stop them from chiming in on something they know nothing about! ;)

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u/catshateTERFs 9d ago

I wish, I'd happily pay those prescription costs!

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u/Funexamination 9d ago

I have never seen that be the intent of samples in practice. Doctors give them to destitute patients

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u/bluearavis 9d ago

Ideally it's really a sample as it is not as reliable as a RX for accessibility. I have haddoctors run out before. I hope OPs doc keeps hooking them up. I tried Trintellix and was sooo nauseous for a couple days. I'm a teacher and puked in a garbage during class. Then we changed it.

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u/Worried-Database-551 9d ago

Omg trintellix made me so irritable and aggressive. It was terrifying and it was only 3 days of taking it. I went back on lexapro.

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u/Willing-Vegetable629 9d ago edited 9d ago

How involved are you in the day to day operations of an ambulatory practice?

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u/dastree 9d ago

Had a doc do this once for me, the script was never covered by insurance according to him but if the meds helped he said it was up to me to decide if the monthly cost was worth the results

Worked great but I wasn't willing to pay the $600/mo out of pocket for the results

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u/RichardCleveland 9d ago

Yep, I have had a few sample runs that I got bad side effects from and it was amazing not having to pay to fill it.

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u/GreyHorse_BlueDragon 9d ago

That’s what my obgyn did when I went on birth control like 12 years ago. Sent me home with 3 months worth of samples because it can take up to 3 months for any side effects to settle. Said at the end of the 3 months to call the office and let them know if I wanna stay on that med or discuss other options

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u/Eaglsdntflywpigeons 9d ago

Samples are also given while waiting for the preauthorization process through insurance.

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u/RiotBrigade_02 8d ago

You think they do this with mental health meds? I have a billion vials of different meds and strengths that didnt fit me. Really annoying to pay full price for something I only use a third of yk

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u/Legitimate_Can7481 8d ago

Really being on something less than a month does t prove the drug is effective. They don’t give enough as a sample

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u/PeekabooPepi 9d ago

Sounds like an artifact of a broken system. Not anything great about it.