Went to pick up 2 prescriptions today. I am doubly insured, both through my job (BCBS PPO) and my husband’s job (HMO). Total for a 1-month supply was $1812.75. Neither insurance covered a dime, so I went without. Just letting you know it happens to MDs, too, and it’s shameful. 1/

These were FDA-approved prescriptions, both prescribed for “on-label “ use by my PCP for criteria which I meet. They weren’t written by me, my husband or a friend. But 2 insurance companies get to decide whether or not my condition is worth treating, not my doctor. 2/

So, it’s a lottery. Why should the insurance executives get to decide who and what is worth treating? Do I waste my doctor’s time appealing when he is already burnt out by spending 18 minutes clicking buttons for the 2 minutes of face time he got with me? His time is valuable. 3/

And I feel bad knowing he skips lunch or misses dinner w/ his family to do these things and makes less money than he did 25 yrs ago when he started out. So I will wait. And play the game of trying to change insurance at open enrollment time to find one that covers these meds. 4/

Insurance cards are often not worth the plastic they are printed on. There is no generic for these. No GoodRx. And I will sleep tonight and be alive in the morning. But the person like me who couldn’t afford their insulin or they’re asthma medication might not be so lucky. /X

So, it’s okay to be angry and frustrated. But be mad at the SYSTEM, not your physician, because they are the person you get to see. They may be a person just like me who is also getting shit upon in the same way you are. And let’s get angry collectively and fix it for ALL of us.