A momentary rant….Insurance Companies are all that is evil….

Allow me to clarify….Health insurance companies are the anti-Christ! 

Dramatic?  Maybe…  Hateful?  Probably….Inaccurate?  No fucking way!!!!

I work in healthcare.  I am a nurse and have been for quite some time.  I know the ins and outs of our convoluted system (to some degree), but I have got to say that it has finally reached unimaginably stupid proportions!!!!

I have insurance, so I am doing better than nearly 45 million others….you would think.  However, yesterday as I went to pick up prescriptions, I was informed that one of my son’s maintenance medications (my 7 year old has asthma and uses Pulmicort) wasn’t “covered.”  OK….”how much?” I ask.  Just $160 !!!  WTF????  Really?????

Here is the thing…  I got the medication.  Because, I could afford it and he NEEDS it. But, all I kept thinking is how many can’t do that?  How does that make any eff’ing sense at all??? 

It doesn’t and here is the reason…. about 2 weeks ago, he had an exacerbation (his asthma acted up during the cold) and the rescue inhaler wasn’t cutting it and we were out of the maintenance.  So, I had to take him to the doctor’s office, where he was prescribed a systemic oral steroid.  That visit and the medication cost ME only (feel the sarcasm in that word) about $85 –about half the medication cost.  But, the insurance company’s portion cost about twice that…

In essence, the insurance company paid the cost of his maintenance drug in one office visit, that might have been prevented with the Pulmicort.   BUT (or BUTT—meaning the ass logic), the insurance company won’t pay that cost.

What I got from this encounter—this joyous interaction with the more than moronic insurance—is that they would rather you get sick and pay more than prevent that occurrence, just in case it might be cheaper.

STUPID, STUPID, STUPID….Not only are they gambling on a greater cost, but the increased long-term effects of having to fix an illness vs. preventing it has huge cost implications for insurance companies….not to mention the toll it takes on a patient.   It makes no sense to pay about $160 an urgent visit (which could be more than once a month) than pay that amount monthly to prevent a visit.  Nor, does it make sense to risk the complication –which are covered and THEY have to pay for. 

Now, I could spend hours debating this—as could most—but I won’t.  I just needed to say—WTF???  Why are we allowing insurance companies to gamble with our health when it isn’t cost effective or logical? And, who the hell is the overpaid (because it is obviously got to be making someone rich) asshole who makes this kind of decision when bartering a kids life????? 

Bastards!