For medications I take regularly, United Healthcare will only cover medications for a limited time before you have to start getting them from their mail order pharmacy, OptumRx. Wouldn’t be a big deal if Optum could get their shit together long enough to get my meds to me without gaps in my supply.
I’ve had repeated calls with them and even discussions with my HR at work - which it’s fucking ridiculous that I should have to discuss any part of my healthcare with my non-medical-field employer, but that’s a whole rant on its own… I just get fed some bullshit about how using a mandatory Rx provider saves money. Told HR I know our company had ~$20 billion in revenue last year so we aren’t hurting, and I didn’t give two shits about saving money for an insurance company, so they’d need to find a different justification. Basically the only option I had to go with if I wanted to use my own pharmacist (that I can literally see across the street from my bedroom window) and didn’t want gaps in my prescription supplies was to pay out of pocket for my meds, so I guess that’s what I’m stuck with for now.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Just needed to vent somewhere.
PS - anyone hiring for Network Operations Techs?
Yeah, all the insurers are pushing for vertical integration of pharmacies and using their mail order pharmacy. Check out Dr.Glaucomflecken on Youtube, he does short, witty, educational dives into this bullshit. We tried using the mail order pharmacy for my kids’ ADHD meds and it was fucking terrible. Federal law prohibits filling refills until we’re out or very nearly out, and they have one distribution center on the opposite coast from us, and they’re having standard shipping to ship these meds. You do the math on that one.
Like much of big corporate America, they want the fat payouts without putting in the legwork to actually make a better product that people will choose on their own, so they just hamper competition and make shit worse for everyone to make line go up a little faster.
At least you have insurance.
Yeah. I’m in favor of universal healthcare, but at this point I think it’d be more likely that California wraps up High Speed Rail construction next year. I have no idea why so many people are so willing to defend our completely broken-ass system; dealing with the insurance company is arguably worse than dealing with the DMV. At least you know the DMV aren’t trying to fuck you to pay for a new mega yacht, they’re just fucking you because those are the rules.