Over the past several months, we have heard all of the press surrounding birth control coverage under Obamacare. Several private owned Christian based companies have argued against the provision in Obamacare which forces businesses to cover certain types of birth control. These types include primarily - post sex medications or "morning after" drugs.
We have heard the college students crying about how these companies are infringing on their freedom and their ability to live a happy life. I have never purchased women's birth control but I understand the cost can be relatively low - $18. Again, never purchased, but this is what I have read. Of course, condoms are also relatively inexpensive. Sure, you can find them over $30/dozen, but at this price, they should put themselves on. Either way, at $18 to $30 per month, I would expect this to be an important part of a date and therefore, relatively inexpensive compared to dinner and move.
Now, I have been a migraine sufferer for most of my life. Those who suffer migraines understand the amount of pain and other symptoms which are associated with a migraine. They range from inconvenient to debilitating. For me, most of my migraines are seriously debilitating. At their worst, I cannot look at a computer screen, any amount of light causes intense pain, and driving is dangerous as my vision and reaction time are terribly affected.
During doctor visits over the course of my life I have been prescribed just about every migraine medicine known to mankind with little, if any, positive effect. In fact, as long as I can remember I have been unable to commit to attending work or family related events because most days will end with a migraine headache.
While having a sleep study about one year ago, I arrived at the scheduled time to begin prepping for the study. I had a mild headache when I arrived, but knew by the onset that it could progress to a major headache. Within a short time after falling asleep, I semi-awoke in severe - cannot move my head or touch a pillow or think - type of pain. By semi-awoke, I do not normally fully wake up, but am half awake through the night. I am conscious of the pain and have even heard myself moaning or crying in pain, but I am not fully awake. This may last for the entire night or I may drift in and out of a full sleep. Either way, the night is not pleasant. Anyway, this was one of those horrible nights. I was aware of the headache and the pain, but I thought someone came in the room and did something, but assumed it was my imagination. I woke up without the headache, which was unusual.
When I spoke to the doctor about the sleep study, he asked me if I had a headache. I told him I did. He mentioned that he had given me a medicine to help with the pain. Not remembering much, I assumed it was a shot of some kind. I jokingly told the doctor to give me some to take home. He asked if it worked. I told it had and based on how bad my head hurt, it worked great. The doctor told me it was a new medicine and he would give me a prescription to try.
This medicine turned out to be a virtual magical drug. It has not killed every migraine, but it eliminates most headaches or at least reduces the severity. This past Christmas was the first time in many years, that I stayed late with my family and enjoyed myself. I am finally getting to where I can commit to doing things at night, knowing that if I have a headache starting, I can knock it out relatively fast. On the bad side, with insurance, the cost of this medicine is $5 per dose. I do not take it for every headache but only for the most debilitating. I average 2-5 headache days each week, which can be one very long headache or 20 short headaches. I may go one or two weeks without taking this medicine or I may take it three times during bad weeks.
Little did I know that when My doctor gave me a refill for 24 doses last November, that this would be the last time I could get this medicine. During my last doctor visit, he ordered a refill from Express Scripts. The pharmacy cancelled the prescription. I thought it was a mistake, so I called the doctor and asked him to try again, which he did. Again, the prescription was cancelled. I called the pharmacy and asked what was going on. They told me I used my maximum benefit for this medicine. Without warning, I was cut-off. They did not call the doctor and ask him to come up with an alternative, they did not call me and offer me a chance to pay out of pocket, they just cancelled - TWICE!!!
This has never happened before and it is clearly one of the steps taken by companies to prepare for the next step in the Obamacare mess, which has conveniently been delayed until after the election. What is troubling to me is how insurance companies and our government, consider birth control to be vitally important, so much that every type of birth control must be covered. This is a medicine which allows people to have sex - unprotected and/or irresponsible sex! Yet, a medicine that often makes a difference whether I can function or not, this is not important and should not be covered. This is messed up in ways I cannot express without becoming incredibly angry.
Tomorrow I will call my doctor for the third time. This time I will ask him to call in the prescription to Walgreens and I will pay the $25 per dose price, out of pocket. At the end of the day, my ability to function is worth coughing up $600 for another 24 doses. However, do not expect any sympathy from me for a college slut who cries because her life is disrupted, i.e; she will have to pay $18 to have sex anytime she wants; while I am praying to die next time I have to sleep sitting on the edge of my bed because it hurts my head to touch, well, anything.
If this is how Obamacare will prioritize medical care in our nation, we are in for more trouble that we originally thought.
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