I recently wrote a column about how much I “love” insurance companies. I received an e-mail immediately after it came out, stating something along the lines of how I would be singing the praises of insurance companies if I ever had a serious condition. This was a silly response because the very fact that I have a serious condition is exactly why I “love” insurance companies … and believe me, I am not speaking about one single insurance company. I’ve dealt with a serious condition for so long that I “love” all insurance companies equally.
Anyway, if you missed that column, I talked about receiving a letter from my insurance saying that I needed to switch my refills from my local pharmacy to a mail service or else the world would end. When I called my insurance company about it, a lady assured me that I didn’t HAVE to switch. Instead, I just needed to specify my choice. I informed the lady that my letter said otherwise, but that I would absolutely, 100 percent, unconditionally, without a single trace of doubt, like to stay with my pharmacy. Case closed … or so I thought.
This week I received another letter from my insurance stating that I only had a few days left before the world ended. I called them again. I was on the phone for a total of 27 minutes, with the phone literally ringing for the first 24.5 minutes of that time. I timed the length of ringing because I had nothing better to do (elevator music would have been nice). All of this nonsense assured me that staying with an actual pharmacy was a good choice.
When I finally got to speak to someone, I heard for a second time that I didn’t HAVE to switch if I didn’t want to, despite having now received two letters stating otherwise. “We try to encourage customers to switch because your co-pay is going to increase if you decide to stay with your pharmacy.” Wondering if I was going to be better off just paying cash to stay with my pharmacy, I inquired about how much the increase was going to be. “It’s going to go from $10 to $14 unless you switch.” Four dollars. That’s what I am wasting my time over. Four whole dollars.
Just to be on the safe side about my much-needed medicine though, I asked the lady if there were going to be any problems with refilling when my “time was up.”
Apparently not being impressed that she couldn’t sell me the mail services for a savings of $4, she very “happily” answered, “Well, I have no way of predicting what your doctor is going to decide for refilling your medicine!” I’m fairly certain that he isn’t going to cut me off suddenly, but thank you Mrs. Obvious. I appreciate that answer.
As it turns out, the person who e-mailed me was right! Having a serious condition is indeed making me sing their “praises” more and more every day.
For questions, comments or to place bets on whether or not I will receive a third letter telling me I HAVE to switch, please e-mail me at christyrasmussen@yahoo.com.
