BC and Insurance Rant....

So, here I am.Doctor L. is going to try to shrink the cysts with low-dose birth control pills. My research on this approach would indicate mixed studies on this, but I was more than willing to take a 6-week break from his driving will to remove 3 internal organs quickly. I am at the end of the 2nd week, and do not feel different. I set an alarm, and take them every morning. The ones early in the month cause nausea, but not much more........

May I go on a diabetes rant for a moment? Not the disease, it is what it is. I am taking responsibility, and taking care of myself. It is the glucometer companies. My first drugstore brand glucometer was off by allot. Up to 80 points.

My Doctor gave me a glucometer that is more like the ones on TV. Because the prescription she wrote was not for my exact model (though she did get the brand correct) the pharmacy refused to charge my insurance, and wanted $1 per test strip! I wound up calling my Insurance company for 45 minutes (well, a helpful fellow in Delhi, actually) to get the exact verbiage that I then called in to the Doctor's assistant, so that the Doc could write me a new prescription for test strips. What would I do without Health Insurance? Do people really pay $1 per strip? I buy my strips in 2 vials of 50, so 100 strips per month. Some strips don't work. Some strips are used to calibrate the machine. If I was paying $1 per, and it did not work, I'd be furious. With my $10 co-pay, it is $.10 a piece......a 90% markup for non-insurance carriers on something that someone needs to decide if they need medicine so they won't die, go blind, or trash their kidneys? Are you KIDDING me?

Then, there is the records-keeping. I was impressed that my machine kept 500 blood glucose records in its memory. There is great advertisement on the glucometer's website about down loadable FREE software - complete with "helpful tips". Whatever. Free means it will contain a bunch of advertising, spyware, cookies, and all of that. No thanks. But if you did want to use it……the puzzle became how to get the numbers out of the machine, and into the computer software. There needs to be a cable......The Doctors office said to ask the pharmacy. The Pharmacy said they sell medicine, not cable. Shouldn't something that is essential to the function and use of the machine come with it? Apparently not.Found the cable, on one of 2 online pharmacies suggested by the Laboratory website.....Hmmmm, payola? The cable is $35, NOT covered under Insurance……

Forget it. I will write them down, and fill out my Endocrinologist’s forms that way.