Need advice

I am so down right now, keep wanting to cry.

The state of Texas is having money problems like everyone else, so they decided to take it out of our pockets (retirees & employees).

Fees are raised, there will be now a deductible as well as co pay.

And the RX's .... sheesh!

They used to have mailorder maintenance RX's, pay two months and get three. Well, now you pay for three and get three.

HOWEVER, to get onto the program will take $600-800! (for us, because of all the stuff I take).

And to go to the local pharmacy you will be surcharged.

My Rx's DID run about $150 oer month copay, and hubby's $35 - now when I ordered his refills today it will be $75! So
he said dont get them, it will be too much (from the pharmacy).

since he got home this evening, he keeps saying, well I will be dead in three months. He is good at being drmatic, but this just hurts so much. I have been under-medicating myself for several months, too. I NEVER thought it would come to this.

Our dear Dr has been giving samples as much as possible, but we cant keep abusing her kindness, and not all of them are available as samples, anyway.

I dont KNOW WHAT to do to scrape together more cash, we are already cheating the grocery budget, which, with us being diabetics, does NOT help!

Dear son has been looking and looking for work, but no such luck. We just paid down on his tuition yesterday.

What to do, what to do!?!

I decided to begin selling on ebay and half.com (books), and found a good wholesale source for garden art. Was wondering if I should try to sell on the side other than ebay/half?

Or a finders' sevice when people look for specific items or collectibles, and I locate it, could sell those.

I DO have the time to do stuff like go to garage sales, estate sales, thrift stores, etc, but just cannot work at a job.

Any advice?

Sorry to burden you with this.

Love, thanks, hugs, Lavanda

Lavanda,
The same thing happened to my friend Karen, she works for the State...they blame it (partly) on less people playing the lottery...
I think finding things for people is a good thing to do...
and I have thought about selling on e-bay...
Does that help? Maybe, a little? I sure hope so...
Melva
See, I was so anxious to post immediatly, I didn't take time to proofread...

This message was edited Friday, Aug 15th 11:32 PM

Yes, my friend it does. Say hello to Karen for me, please.

I don't know what to tell you...things are sure a mess! My Health Insurance went up, after my knee surgery...so we cancelled them, and started looking for another company...finding one for me was a battle...but for DH, it was no problem. He hasn't been to the Dr. in more than 20 years, the man has no health records, nothing has ever been done!and the insurance for me, is more than twice what he pays, both of them have a 5,000 deductible, but if we have a emergency, and have to go into the Hospital we are good...but littlt things are cash. That is a drag! I repeat, what a mess! That is not the word, that comes to mind, but it is one that I can post...

This message was edited Saturday, Aug 16th 8:54 AM

My heart goes out to you, Lavanda. Health costs are just staggering and so many people are put in a position of having to cut back on the very medications they need! Pharmaceutical companies do have programs in place to help those in need get the medications they must have. Ask your doctor to help you apply for this - the drug companies send the samples to the doctor for you.

I just found some information at Clarkhoward.com -- a wonderful consumer advocate -- about prescription medicine options. Hope these help!

http://clarkhoward.com/library/tips/prescription_costs.html
http://clarkhoward.com/topics/prescription_plans.html

There's just GOT to be a way for you to get the care you need, including the medications.

Thanks, I will look into tht. Also AARP. And anywhere else we can think of.

Lavanda, I pray that God will show you a way to get your meds even more cheaply than you had them before this change.
My own copays are now about $140 a month for my meds so I know what you're talking about. DH's company just changed providers so now if we want our own doctor we have to pay a lot more out of pocket. They make no apologies for it - the rules are so strange and they make no sense to me whatsoever.

Frustrating. I know there must be a way for you and your DH.
I'm praying God will bless you and keep you, dear one.

Love
Janie

lavanda, have you thought of getting your scripts from mexico? a lot of people are turning to canada and mexico to get things filled.

Lavanda when Bobbie was diagnosed with MS we found that the drug companies will help you with the meds. Contact them and ask if they can help directly with out going through an insurance company. Might be that they would contact the doctor. It's not only the state that is going up on Meds and cost however. My copay was any maintainance drug for $10 for three months supply. This year it went to $30 for three months supply. The insurance company won't even accept a year long prescription from the doctor any more. They only accept it for 6 months. ????? DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.
The drug company called us about Bobbie's med as it was going to be almost $3000 for a three months supply for the drug she has to take and they asked if we could afford it if the insurance didn't approve and we said no. Then they said not to worry that if the insurance company didn't approve they would make the drug available to her free if they had to. There are ways to get the meds. Just keep trying and never give up. If you give up there is no hope.
Try also some of the agencies that are available in your area. Bobbie just got a $2000 trailer to haul her wheelchair on because someone told us to call the agency here for the ageing. They said we happened to call at the right time that they had the money left over in the budget but if I had waited to the end of the month it would have been harder to get because a new budget for the year would start. They even asked if Bobbie needed some one to come and bathe her twice a week. They came and put grab bars around the bath tub. So there is help you just have to keep trying. Good luck Jim

I think what's so frustrating for some is that, though there is help avaialable, it's not well-publicized and people are left to scrambling from resource to resource to find the help they need. I wonder if there are sites listing contact info for various such resources in various geographic areas.

oh i know how expensive it can be to purchase your medications. i consider myself blessed that we have perscription insurance. first it was you could get it anywhere for nothing. then it was you could get it anywhere but if you didn't get it at there pharmacy you had to pay 50%. then the co-pay's started. $3 generic and $8 name, then $8 and $15, then it depended on the medication what the co-pay was, and now it is the same but the cost has gone up. i still consider myself blessed. without a perscription plan, my medications are so expensive that i would have to take other medications that would not be as effective. this day may come sooner than later, when my dh retires in 4+ years. he was looking forward to retiring at $62 but we could only get cobra for a year and a half, to age 65, then we'll have to do some sort of supplimental insurances, if they will even take me on.
i laugh every year because i get a holiday card from the pharmacy. i guess they go out to the top 3% and this is a big company. LOL my dh's name isnt on the card either. lol he doesn't make the cut thank god.

there are a lot of resources out there. bug your doc or there receptionist/secretary etc...., call your federal, state and city halls, see if you can get an advocate. our city, springfield, massachusetts has been getting there perscription medications for there employees from canada for years now. that has caused a stink recently here with the pharmaceutical companies. it is also understandable on there parts too, they spend millions of dollars in research developing drugs that most often never get off the ground. so when they come out with a new medication, they need to put higher prices on them. but unfortunately in our country it is the people who don't have insurance that pay premium prices. the insurance companies don't pay those prices, or those of us who are lucky enough to have perscriptions paid in full or part.
i have been the receipient of some of these wonderful drugs and i thank god for them everyday. but my dh and i are firm believers in this:
if we do your footwork and try to help ourselves, god will and always has provided us with what we need. it may not always be what we want, but always what we need.
for today i am grateful for my medications, my co-pays and my dh working. life is good.

Lavanda, I just found this thread. I certainly hope your RX woes have gotten better. I just wanted to tell you to take advantage of the samples you can get from the doctor. Talk with a nurse in the office. When I worked for a doctor's office the nurse would tell the rep which drug they needed and they would leave them. If they are not used before the expiration date they have to be thrown out. If the drug companies are going to give drugs away they might as well give them to you.