Complex Numbers

I Never Herd Of Such A Thing

"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS"  [13+]:
15. Cat Herder's Day
Ya, good luck with that.

"JAFBG"  [XGC]:
Tell us about something/someone that fucked you off this week.

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
         -Robert A. Heinlein

Yes, Heinlein was a bit of a sexist. He grew up in an entirely different time.

Still, that's a quote that I took to heart -- not for the sexist overtones; I figured the truth is "people and cats will do as they please," and I try not to concern myself with making other people do things. Nor do I worry about herding cats. Feed the cats, pet them, play with them, make sure they're healthy, and they'll stick around and do very cute and silly things. If I wanted to exert control over something -- which I don't -- I'd get a dog. Which I won't.

It's really about accepting those things you can't change.

And you know what else I can't change?

SEGUÉ

Insurance company bullshit.

Okay, this wasn't this week but last week and it's only Monday so it counts.

Some background: Last year, I didn't have health insurance. It would have been entirely too expensive. At the end of the year, though, I looked into new options on the ACA website, and found a plan I could live with. It's still very expensive, and has a high deductible, but I have it in case something major happens, at which point I fully expect the insurance company to fight my claim tooth and nail. But then again, they might not, so if I go to the ER for a hangnail and they charge me $150,000 for a band-aid and some Neosporin, hopefully the insurance will cover most of that.

But what sucks about the insurance is the prescription foolery.

Like many people, I've been prescribed a statin for cholesterol control. The doctor gives me a 90-day prescription with refills enough to last almost a full year (90x4 = 360, which is 5 days less than most years). I go to the pharmacy to get it filled, and suddenly it's a 30-day prescription and I'm charged about $30 for it. Okay, that's not terrible; obviously it works out to a dollar a day. Fine. But now I have to walk into a pharmacy during a pandemic every month instead of every three months.

So I look into it further. It turns out that if I pretend I don't have insurance and just buy the 90-day prescription outright, it costs -- get this, now -- $33.

That's right. A 90-day supply of this crap without insurance costs 1/3 as much as three 30-day fills with insurance.

The only downside is that the price of the prescription doesn't apply to my yearly deductible, but look, if I ever have occasion to exceed the deductible, that extra ($30x12=) $360 isn't going to change shit.

Right now every American reading this is nodding knowingly, while every non-American is confused as shit. Don't worry. It confuses us too.

But what can you do? Arguing with insurance companies is like trying to herd cats.