49 cents for the Nuva Ring!!!????

[wholuvsya.livejournal.com]

Hi Ladies,
wanted to vent a little and tell you a sort of amusing story at the same time. I just recently had to fill my rx for the nuva ring...I knew that my insurance covered it because they cover contraceptives....so I pick up my rx and they say that will be "$49.51" I said, "did you run it through my insurance?" (sometimes they forget) the woman stifled a laugh and said, "oh yes, honey, they are covering a whopping 49 cents of your prescription this time" I paid for it, grumbling the entire time, even thought it was NOT the the clerks fault, and came home and called the company...long story short, the man told me that I should be "happy they covered as much as they did because they don't consider the nuva ring an effective form of bc!" I said to him, "since when are you my doctor or the fda? you don't get to choose what I use in MY BODY" He told me to deal with it and then I, queen mother bitch that I am *bow*, offered to mail him a check for 49 cents so he wouldn't have to waste anymore of his time worrying about MY body...well, after my call, I was discussing this with my rather liberal mother, and at one point, I said, "excuse me, are you a republican....blah...." and my two year old democrat walked out of his room and yelled, "scuze me, publican" and I nearly lost it...ah..my budding liberal...I know this whole story wasn't totally vagina related...but...it contained a very cute boy, right?! have a nice night!

***EDIT***I hope no one took this post the wrong way...our family, while it is liberal, does not bash Republicans...in fact *shhhh* I have VOTED for 'publicans before...ha ha...

Comments

[iwannamoshnow.livejournal.com]

smart kid

[addiejd.livejournal.com]

That is sooo cute.

Seriously though, you should contact your state department of health and see if it's legal for them to do that.

[rocketbabydoll2.livejournal.com]

Cute kid but ARHGH THAT MAKES ME SO ANGRY that they would do that...

[six58.livejournal.com]

haha. awesome kid.

but about the insurance.
what insurance is it?
that just...doesnt seem right to me.
is it possible that the representative you talked to didnt know what he was talking about?
do you have a deductible to meet?

*shrug*
theres no reason they shouldnt cover more of it.
i know that with some insurances, they have a preferred drug list that they cover more on and then they cover less (sometimes none) of the unpreferred drugs.
but ive only seen that in other medicines. blood pressure medicine and such. never birth control.

[puttysan.livejournal.com]

My old insurance company covered only a few generic brands of BC; nothing name-brand, nothing new. And it is legal; they can choose what to cover.

[wholuvsya.livejournal.com]

Blue Cross/Blue Shield...but they farmed out their prescription coverage..for one of my sons meds, they paid 11 cents one time...*head/desk*

[misslynn.livejournal.com]

gawd, i have BC/BS, and they cover my ortho-evra just like aetna did... weird. i will be on the lookout....

[wholuvsya.livejournal.com]

He told me if I switched to Ortho Evra they'd be happy to cover it, because they consider it an effective bc...nice, huh?

[ncsu-lady.livejournal.com]

Its probably a group policy that the company bought. it just depends on which one they got. I have had 2 different BC/BS in the last year.. they just drive me nuts.

[misslynn.livejournal.com]

see, you'd think that nuvaring would be more covered because it's not linked to the omg!blood clots... *rolls eyes* silly insurance.

[puttysan.livejournal.com]

He's not choosing what you use in your body, the company is choosing what they want to cover, which is their right. You're more than welcome to use whatever medication you and your doctor agree on, but it doesn't mean the insurance company has to cover it. It sucks, just like it sucks for those of us that don't have insurance at all, but such is the way of the world. Try looking at Wal-Mart or Costco's or such for cheaper prescriptions, but that's about all you can do.

[wholuvsya.livejournal.com]

oh I know it..it just seemed obnoxious that they would cover forty nine cents..target, btw, has it for 39.99...next month..target time!

[puttysan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, if they don't want to cover it, don't cover it. Don't insult us with 49 cents.

[emeraldmystique.livejournal.com]

I understand that insurance companies can choose what drugs to cover, but isn't there something wrong with them saying that a medication approved by the fda for a certain purpose, is, in their eyes, not effective for that purpose?
It doesn't sound like he rattled off a list of covered medication and non-covered and said, "Sorry that's how it is." but that it was this particular one.
I dunno... that just seems wrong.

[wholuvsya.livejournal.com]

He flat out told me that they refused to cover the ring because they didn't feel it was effective...last I checked, the insurance company had nothing to do with how effective a drug was...after all, they will cover amoxicillin for my son, but it's virtually ineffective for HIM...so go figure, bunch of jerks! :)

[puttysan.livejournal.com]

Well, considered by the FDA to be safe and effective doesn't mean the doctors working for the insurance company think the effectiveness is good enough for what a brand-name, no-generic-available medication costs the insurance company. My old insurance covered exactly three generic BC pills, and nothing else.

Many of them won't cover certain medical procedures, either. For example, my father has cancer right now. His insurance is covering his basic chemo, but had he chosen to go with a more aggressive route, it would not be covered, because his insurance does not consider that treatment effective, either medically or in cost. And because in short, they are a private company, the need only follow basic federal and state mandates, and don't have to cover anything else they don't want to.

[wholuvsya.livejournal.com]

how obnoxious...good luck to your dad...i'll say a prayer for him

[lunarei.livejournal.com]

Aw, not all us republicans are bad. =( Man, I tell ya... being a republican nowadays is kind of like being a leper. I told my roller derby team I was one, and they all gave me these disgusted looks. We're not all bad, I swear.

[wholuvsya.livejournal.com]

oh I know that...I was just teasing...I am pretty open minded to both the "publicans" and the democrats...lol

[lunarei.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad! See! See! We can get allong!!

[lindsey-nichole.livejournal.com]

I feel ya! Except I'm liberal liberal liberal :)

Liberal in Lubbock, TX and being vocal about it (even on a freakin college campus) pretty much equates with people staring at me and imagining my body burning on a stake.

[lunarei.livejournal.com]

Haha! Same thing with being a Republican in Washington DC. Everyone wants to run me over with their car.

[queensugar.livejournal.com]

You guys should trade places! :D

[squeezypie.livejournal.com]

-is rediculously liberal, and from DC-

Ah, I miss the good ol' days. Hey, you want to come live in central Virginia? They'll love you. >_>

But ha, I remember knowing TWO seventh graders (out of about 350 kids) who were republicans last year. Two.

[althea]

When I switched to OTC LO last month, I signed for my prescription at the pharmacy counter and prepared to pay my usual ten dollar copayment, or maybe fifteen or even twenty since it was a name brand. Instead? Thirty-five dollars! I muttered, "I'm gonna kill my doctor!" and the cashier cracked up. Seriously, though, what the hell? Given the overpopulation we're dealing with today, I think birth control should be free. Bah. Grrr.

[chop-sockey.livejournal.com]

I just switched to OTC LO, and (though I have yet to fill the prescription) my doctor told me it would be in the $30 range as well. I was on Trinessa (generic OTC) before, and it was $10. Maybe they'll come out with a 'Nessa LO sometime soon.

[wholuvsya.livejournal.com]

I suppose I could but being in the Chicago land area, I would have to go downtown to get it...which would really defeat the purpose of trying to save money...thanks for the suggestion though :)

[fshk.livejournal.com]

My insurance company pays for prescriptions on a $5/$15/$25 scale, sort of at their whim. To me, it would make sense for the $25 to apply to the costliest prescriptions, right? And $5 for the cheapest? Before I went on BC, I never paid more than $5 for a prescription, but then I went to pick up my first pack (this was a couple of years ago) and when the pharmacist told me it would be $25, I was all, "Whuh? Did you put through my insurance?" Yes, it would be $45 without insurance. So, thanks, insurance company, for making me pay more than half. The $100+ medication I had to take in December only cost me $5. It seems so arbitrary.

[ahurani.livejournal.com]

The insurance companies will make deals with the pharmaceutical companies which is how you end up with "preferred" brands that you have a lower copay for. And then the lowest copay is for generics no matter what their cost.

[mizzcocoloco.livejournal.com]

How many rings did you get for it to cost you fifty dollars? I get my nuva rings from planned parenthood and they only cost eight dollars each and I dont have insurance. If you have a PP nearby, maybe you should go there for your BC.

[mizzcocoloco.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, I just read the comment posted above...so never mind about the PP idea :p

[wholuvsya.livejournal.com]

one ring for fifty...blah..damn drug companies! ;)

[awriterswindow.livejournal.com]

I LMAO at that post. I hope to God when I have kids that they end up liberal.

[laughing-dreams.livejournal.com]

i have kaiser which i think is great (at least for me....) and the ring isn't formulary so i'd have to pay for it out pocket