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Overweight Smokers

31 Jan

Posted by madWAHM as Health Stuff, Venting

If you need and want to lose weight and/or quit smoking, don’t count on getting any help from your insurance company!

Want to know why the leading causes of death in this country are illness related to smoking and obesity?

I’ll tell ya why… because insurance companies will not cover or pay for preventative prescriptions!

After turning 39 in October, I decided that it was time to start taking better care of myself. I made up my mind that I was going to try and quit smoking and lose that last 20 of 44 pounds that I’d been trying to lose since last April.

So, last week, after way too long, I went and got a physical. Afterwards, I ask my doc to prescribe me something to help me lose some weight. And, while I was at it – and since I decided I wanted to try and quit smoking after 20 years, I asked for one of those new quit smoking prescriptions.

Okay – so my doc gives me a prescription for Xenical (weight loss) and one for Chantix (quit smoking pills) and I feel like I’m on my way to a healthier new me! I skipped all the way out to my car.

I go to the pharmacy to fill these only to have all my new hopes and dreams squashed! Since I have BlueCross and BlueShield Insurance and my prescription co-pays are $25 for brand-name and $10 for generic, I thought I was looking at having to spend $50 for new prescriptions – right? WRONG!

Come to find out – which I didn’t know (probably since my son and I are pretty healthy and rarely need medical care or prescriptions) is that my insurance doesn’t cover either of these drugs.

So now, if I want the Xenical I’ll have to pay $239.00 and another $117 for the Chantix — that’s $356!!! And, by-the-way, each of these is only a 30 day supply. Being as how that was $306 more than I could afford, I had to leave my prescriptions at the pharmacy.

So there you have it! What a pisser, huh?

The good news, if I wait — my insurance will cover all care, treatment, hospitalizations and prescriptions caused by my obesity-related heart disease and smoking-related emphysema.

Go figure… what morons!

None Yet.

2 Responses

Elizabeth

February 1st, 2008 at 10:53 am
1

I agree, insurance makes no freaking sense. But they make more money from your copays related to heart disease and emphysema treatment than they do from your preventive medicine copays! It’s RIDICULOUS.

Just discovered your blog through Entrecard, I’m a Postie too Nice to “meet” you!
digital chatter

February 2nd, 2008 at 9:14 pm
2

Insurance companies are idiots! It’s cheaper to buy the cigarettes and buy junk food than it is to eat healthy and eliminate smoking…even with paying premiums,but it’s good to know that oxygen tank will be there when I need it!