Insurance Pre-authorization Hiccup

On Friday I phoned in a refill for one of JoJo's antibiotics. On Saturday morning, I had an email from the pharmacy. The insurance company wouldn't approve the refill. The original authorization was for 6 refills and this was the 7th. It will all get worked out between the doctors, the insurance company and the pharmacy, but this being a weekend, I will have to visit the clinic on Sunday morning to facilitate rapid handling. In the meantime, we don't want to miss a dose; JoJo gets 4 per day @ 6.25ml each. I told the pharmacist to put it on my Express Pay and I will get reimbursement from the insurance company when the authorization is approved. She stood there with an odd look on her face like she didn't know what to say. "What if they don't approve it?"

4 day supply, 17 doses, $938.

This segues nicely into my observations regarding prescription medications. Up here in the nort'land, they used to load up buses with the elderly and make road-trips to Canada where prescription meds were much cheaper. Of course, any money saved was blown during mealtime and overnight stops at casinos along the way. The internet has made Canadian purchases quite simple nowadays. Pharmaceutical companies rant about it and plant stories about tainted drugs, but there is considerable regulation and US government agencies look the other way as long as it is only personal use.

There are some meds still proprietary in the US that are now generic outside, and one can save large sums of money. I've had a few experiences with it. The first time, we ordered a prescription for my dad. By going with a generic and ordering pills that were double his required dose, he could cut them in half and reduce his monthly cost from about $150 to less than $40. The meds were nicely packaged from the manufacturer in English.

The next time I tried it, the packaging was labelled in Finnish, then Greek. As I look into this more, it has become something of an international distribution network. The drug companies try to manage the supply to each country so they don't create surpluses that can be dumped on the open market.

It all seems to work pretty well as long as you stick with companies that are part of the regulatory network. The last prescription I purchased came in a padded envelope from India. That gave me pause, but I decided to give them a shot. So far, the only change I have noticed is an inordinate craving for curry and a decrease in my appetite for beef.

Cancer Sucks