FALL-WINTER 2023 Shopping Fun and Frustrations!!!!

Some of my cousins in Canada wait weeks to be seen by their primary doctors, and when the primary doctor thinks something requires a specialty doctor, they can wait months.

Agree. Just goes to show how everyone's insurance is different. I've often told a pharmacy not to refill a script (I normally use mail order) and have never had any filled that I didn't want filled. Also, I have taken two pills from an old bottle if a dosage is doubled with my doctor's approval. In fact, I once took a pill that I had to stop as it did the opposite of what it was supposed to do and when a larger dose was prescribed for my husband he asked the doctor if it was okay to just take two of the pills I had to use them up. Doctor said sure.

I agree there is no perfect answer or probably system for that matter, but I don't care for the fact with our current system everyone can be treated differently. I don't believe that's the way things should be for a country's citizens.

And I believe I've mentioned this before with regards to waiting; I live in the city with the nickname 'Med City' and we have plenty of long waits. I just called my primary care doctor early last week and got an appointment for the 29th so nothing quick about that. I believe wait times often depend on number of medical personnel versus population in the area.

Wow, that wait is terrible.

Maybe I am seeing different results because I've been with the same clinic/group for over 40 years. Or maybe it's because my clinic/group also has after hours clinics (5 - 10pm).

How can they do that? That really sucks. I was having a really bad trip last night but today I'm much better. I feel like I'm a drug addict. I probably am. After a hospital stay, I sure look like one. It's all medicine that I'm supposed to take for my heart condition but it's such a bad trip. I have to stop taking it. I didn't take anything last night or this morning and I feel so much better. The worst part about taking the drugs is that you don't know how messed up you are until after they wear off. If you always take them, then you're always messed up. Sorry about the deletes. I hate that there's a record of what I say even if I am anonymous. I wish that we could just have a conversion and what we said would go away.

I've been told by more than one source that health insurance companies can make changes anytime they want to; doesn't matter if it's a new year, or an open enrollment period, or whatever - providers, services, medications covered can be changed or dropped all together. I think it sucks too. Just another reason I'd prefer a Universal Health Care system so everyone knows what is and isn't covered. Just my two cents.

There's so much waste with drugs. I'll get a $500 bottle of a new drug when they should just give me a couple of sample pills to see if it works. Most of the time it doesn't so the insurance company just threw away $500. Then they'll keep on refilling things even though I tell them that I'm not going to take it. That's even more waste. If the doctor doubles my dose, they'll give me a new bottle of higher strength pills rather than telling me to take 2 pills from the old bottle. It's stuff like this that drives me crazy especially when you consider that monkeydawn can't get what she needs.

Agree. Just goes to show how everyone's insurance is different. I've often told a pharmacy not to refill a script (I normally use mail order) and have never had any filled that I didn't want filled. Also, I have taken two pills from an old bottle if a dosage is doubled with my doctor's approval. In fact, I once took a pill that I had to stop as it did the opposite of what it was supposed to do and when a larger dose was prescribed for my husband he asked the doctor if it was okay to just take two of the pills I had to use them up. Doctor said sure.

Something I forgot. They'll use the generic name rather than the brand name when they talk to me about my meds. For example, I know what Lipitor is but I have no idea about atorvastatin. It's hard to give correct info when you don't know what they're talking about.

yensshopper is correct, they can just change coverage willy nilly. I was really expecting that coverage would be dropped at the beginning of the year (due to a patent lapse and biosimilars that are now available) so when I was able to get my first refill I thought I was in the clear until the summer, when my doctor has to fight for approval for the higher dosage that I take. So this was pretty surprising to me as I didnt realize then they could cut off coverage mid year..

It feels like they should give more time than two months notice given wait times to get an appointment. I cant even get a reply from my doctors office which I hope means that he is fighting for an exception given my history of things Ive tried and what hasnt worked but it's super stressful not knowing what's going on.



So much waste in the medical world. In meds and equipment. A lot of procedural stuff comes in "packets" rather than just being able to select an individual item. So when they are opening a packet and just using one or two items, the rest is just thrown out (or taken by staff). It cant be saved and used for another patient. It's so crazy, the inefficiency.

Can you just not pick up the refill that you didnt want but was filled anyway? Ive done that before and it just gets cycled back after X days. They will text/ call you endlessly during those days though!



That's so great that your medical team allows you guys to do that. It's so much easier when your medical team is willing to work with your circumstances!



Oh yeah. That is super confusing.

I had to chuckle to myself at your answer as I've never even lived in the same place, much less gone to the same clinic/group for 40 years. I was actually thinking of this the other day as our son's 45th birthday is later this month and he's lived in the same city, as well as worked at the same company, for the past 23 years. Which is longer than either my husband or myself has done either that long. That being said, my current primary doctor where I now live moved to this city the same month we did so it's not like he already had an established patient list yet he is extremely busy.

Yes, we are likely the outliers in terms of living arrangements.

Sometimes at the clinic if I want to be seen quicker, I do see another doctor, but lately that has been the exception and not the rule.

I did almost jinx myself, as I needed a mammo appointment. When I called today, they said they had an 8:20am tomorrow available. When I asked what else did they have, later in the day, she had nothing available at the location closest to me. The next closest location had an appointment tonight at 7:20, and then nothing until September. So I'm getting up for the 8:20am appointment tomorrow. LOL

The other day I was watching one of those drug commercials that always come on. You know, the ones with a story and theme song. It's usually a drug for HIV, a skin problem, or heart issue. I was curious about how much one of those drugs cost. My drugs can hit $500 for a month's supply which was what I was expecting the commercial ones to cost but they were all around $10,000. That's $10,000 a month. No wonder they have a fancy theme song.

Yes, we are likely the outliers in terms of living arrangements.

Sometimes at the clinic if I want to be seen quicker, I do see another doctor, but lately that has been the exception and not the rule.

I did almost jinx myself, as I needed a mammo appointment. When I called today, they said they had an 8:20am tomorrow available. When I asked what else did they have, later in the day, she had nothing available at the location closest to me. The next closest location had an appointment tonight at 7:20, and then nothing until September. So I'm getting up for the 8:20am appointment tomorrow. LOL

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Hope this is just routine for you. For routine here they schedule about 6 weeks out but if you need something more urgent, it is available, generally within a week.