“Do you offer health insurance?” When I interview potential staff members one of the most sought after benefits is health insurance. I think everyone would agree that it is an essential component of living.
No matter how we live life every day, you can eat the healthiest diet, exercise, and lifestyle habits and have and be a victim unfortunate accident. In a previous post I relayed how important, and fortunate I was to have excellent health insurance from my pharmacy employer.
We have many problems with our current healthcare system in my opinion. One barrier to cost effective and effective health care are the managed care organizations, or as I like to call them managed cost programs.
Have you experienced your doctor or pharmacist telling you “I am sorry, your insurance company will not cover this service or that service because they don’t feel it is necessary” or “your insurance company requires a prior authorization for this medication, and until it is approved you can not have the medication” Do you understand what that means? In simple terms it means that your insurance policy that costs hundreds of dollars per month is denying the care that your physician wants to prescribe for you. Generally I am of the opinion that your physician intends to choose the best solution to address your problem. How frustrating it is that your insurance company says DENIED! Managed care, will it save us or kill us?
There is an argument to be made for that restrictive medication formulary. The drug that was ordered by your physician may be overpriced, or hyped by an attractive drug rep that influenced the practitioners opinion. What is this you ask, a pharmacist saying that the medication is overpriced? I have recently become aware of some fascinating information about how drug manufacturers often market prescription drug products that have little or no benefit over existing generic, more cost effective products already on the market. Drugs like Claritin®, Celebrex®, and the Statins. More on that to come.
Tell me about your heath care frustrations. Have you experienced any barriers to caring for your health or a loved ones due to the insurance program? What did you have to do to overcome it?
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