This is my first rant, but I’m mad enough to actually start one. Please,forgive me if I am duplicating an older thread. Just to make this pit worthy… GODDAMED FUCKING HELL!!! SHIT! FUCK! BLOOD! GUTS! There,does that qualify this thread for the pit?
To understand my position,you need to know several things about me. First,I REALLY need vision correction. I have severe astigmatism,and am very near sighted. The vision in my right eye is 20/200 and the vision in my left eye is 20/400. The good news is, it can be corrected. The better news is, it corrects to 20/25.
Secondly,I have horrid year-round allergies. I’m constantly having problems with ear infections,upper respiratory infections,and bronchitis because of this. In order to try to stay healthy, I need anti-histamines every day,and decongestant. I take 24 hour Claritin, and generic Sudafed to be most cost effective. If I cannot keep my sinuses dried out, an infection will develop, and I’ll need anti-biotics again. I also have seizures, am bi-polar, and arthiritc.
Lastly, I’m disabled. I cannot work at all. I have to live on $550 a month. This is supposed to buy my medicines, hygine needs, food, rent, utilities etc. I borrow a computer, and give a little money towards the internet bill for the privilege. I’m not complaining about the amount I get per month, I’m actually glad to have any money at all. My husband is a student, working towards a career, and so someday I know this situation will change. (He’s 19.)
My medical coverage comes from SRS. (Medicaid) This fine institution recently stopped paying for eye exams, and eyeglasses. Now I will have to budget, and save for months in order to have enough money for an eye exam, and subsequent eye glasses.
They also don’t cover over the counter drugs, and Claritin’s patent ran out a couple of months ago. It’s now an over the counter drug. This is the one anti-histamine that had consistently given me decent results, and now I’ve got to change to another. I realize that it’s the drug industry, and questionable FDA policies at fault for this. I don’t have a problem with the FDA in general, but it seems they let the drug industrie’s lobbyists bend their ears too much IMO.
I would have been outraged about these things for a while, then shrugged and gone on with my life if it hadn’t been for the insert that came with my medical card.
Starting last month, Medicaid will now pay for diapers for consumers age 6 through 20! What the hell?!!! They will pay for diapers, but not eyeglasses? What about people like me, who really NEED vision correction? I’m glad that the burden of such an obviously high expense has been lifted from these families, my question is: “Why did they have to take from one area to give to another?”
Why is it, that they can pay for something like diapers/breifs but not vision correction? They only paid for an eye exam and glasses every four years, instead of every year as is actually needed. Yet, they are now paying a monthly expense that will go on for years?
This is a mockery! A pathetic attempt at a seeming of health care provision. It’s not a proper system at all, because it can’t even provide the spectrum of basic needs. It’s “Robbing Peter to pay Paul” and hoping it won’t get caught. Why can’t they understand that spending a little more money now, will end up saving a lot later on? Preventative medicine works.
What the hell am I going to do now? I already use generic products. I also buy bulk foods, and cook meals from scratch. (I make lots of a very cheap dish, and freeze some of it, then have leftovers later in the week.) I live dirt cheap as it is. How am I going to budget the money to not only get an eye examination, but also pay for the glasses? I’m almost resigned to the fact that I’m just going to have to take another anti-histamine and suffer. I can’t afford to buy Claritin over the counter. It’s going to end up costing Medicaid more in the end though, because I’m likely to end up with an infection of some kind and they will end up having to pay for my doctor’s visit, as well as anti-biotics.
What the hell were they thinking?!!! :mad:
{Insert your healthcare provider woes here…}