Caught in the healthcare web

Written by Ellen Beveridge
Wednesday, 01 February 2012 01:00

In December, I received a notice from my health care insurer, which I have in tandem with Medicare. I was informed that a blood pressure drug I’ve been taking for several years would no longer carry a co-pay of $6.

As of Jan. 1, the payment would jump to a whopping $42. An alternative drug was suggested with a co-pay of only $3.

That sounded like a good deal to me. I called my primary care physician, and the new drug was ordered with the caveat that after two weeks I should come to the office for a blood pressure check.

But it didn’t take two weeks for me to discover whether this new drug had put me on the right path or not; in fact, it took only about an hour.

The first morning I took the new drug it was just about an hour when suddenly I had this all-over body sensation that something was terribly wrong. I didn’t have any pain, and I didn’t feel dizzy or faint; in fact, I’ve never fainted in my life. It was a strange feeling that’s difficult to describe. My thoughts rushed to heart attack or stroke. It was very scary.

I sat down on the living room couch. Should I call 911, or my daughter who lives about a 10-minute drive away? Or would whatever was happening just pass away? Was I being a penny wise and a pound foolish to choose the latter option, especially considering I live alone?

Wise or unwise, I didn’t take any action except to lie back on the couch. My heart was pounding — slowly — I counted the beats. It seemed like an eternity, although I’m sure it was only a minute or two before I was my normal self again.

I have taken numerous drugs in my lifetime with never any adverse effects. Consequently, I swallowed that innocent-looking little white pill never expecting any reaction at all.

It was a Sunday when this incident happened, so I had to wait until the following morning to contact the doctor; fortunately, I was squeezed into an already busy appointment schedule.

The first order of business was an EKG test and everything was normal in that department, news I received with a feeling of great relief. But the blood pressure reading was too high. No wonder, I thought, this was the third morning without my regular drug.

I’ve been back on that drug ever since, and all’s well that ends well. Yet I felt that I needed an explanation or more information as to why the powers-that-be had brought all this havoc into my life.

The following day, after the interminable phone wait, I finally got to talk to a live voice at the insurance office. The representative was sympathetic to my tale of woe, “but there is nothing I can do,” she said. She put all the blame on Medicare for raising the cost of many drugs starting in 2012, but I have to wonder if the insurance company also plays a role in this.

This was confirmed when I picked up the re-issue of the drug that had always worked so well. When I mentioned my situation to the pharmacist she said that all the new drug increases are putting a financial strain on many senior citizens.

“I see it everyday,” she said, “these people are hurting.”

Now, don’t weep for me; I’m not in this “hurting” category; I can afford the co-pay increase. But I can’t help but wonder if this is the best path to follow. Why can’t we improve the medical system to put people before profits?

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