When I first sat down this morning, I had every intention of writing a political rant.
I was pissed off because I believe Kaiser overcharged Edie for a prescription. I find it so amazing, that after 7+ years of dealing with the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan, Kaiser still can't get it right. [Fortunately the quality of care they provide is better than their financial and billing prowess.]
This last prescription put Edie $200.50 into the donut hole, but instead of charging her only $200.50 for the prescription, Kaiser charged her $270.50. I assumed, and later confirmed, the extra $70 was the copay for the 3 month prescription for Lyrica. So why was she charged the copay? After all, if she had been within $1 of the donut hole (instead of $721.61), they wouldn't have charged her $995.61 (the drugs only cost $926.61) for the prescription. They would have only charged her $925.61. [At least logic tells me that would be the case.]
So why are they charging her the copay in this case?
Of course the customer service people, didn't seem to grasp that concept, and were adamant about charging the copay. So now I'm forced to write a letter to the Appeals Board to file a grievance. Hopefully they are a little more intelligent than the customer service representative(s).
Then I saw the following article at Marketwatch.com "Real Estate 101: How to buy property in college towns", and wondered when did the US stop making stuff? When did investing become such a huge part of the economy to the point companies are no longer concerned with their products or employees, but only their bottom line? When did the financial industry become an industry? They don't make anything. All they do is move money around, and then charge you for doing just that.
What ever happened to hard work as a way of making money? My father did it, and I've done it for the past 35 years.
But then I thought, what's the point? Who's going to pay attention to me anyways? There are a lot smarter, and more influential people trying to get the same point across, without much success, so what makes me think I can accomplish what they can't?
So rather than dwell on the perverseness of the US health care system, or a national psyche that favors greed and profits over hard work, fairness and moral principles, I decided I would find something more uplifting to write about.
I decided to complain about celebrate the fact summer has finally arrived. It only took 3 months, but it may actually be here now. I know that because it's been hotter the last two days than it has been this entire year, and today is not supposed to be any different.
These are the first days this year, I've been able to go without arm warmers, or a long sleeve shirt at the start of a bike ride, and sitting at the coffee shop afterwards has actually been very comfortable.
Oh, and then I just realized, yesterday marked my 8½ year anniversary of dealing with my MCL, and not needing treatment.
I guess those are two things I can celebrate.
I was pissed off because I believe Kaiser overcharged Edie for a prescription. I find it so amazing, that after 7+ years of dealing with the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan, Kaiser still can't get it right. [Fortunately the quality of care they provide is better than their financial and billing prowess.]
This last prescription put Edie $200.50 into the donut hole, but instead of charging her only $200.50 for the prescription, Kaiser charged her $270.50. I assumed, and later confirmed, the extra $70 was the copay for the 3 month prescription for Lyrica. So why was she charged the copay? After all, if she had been within $1 of the donut hole (instead of $721.61), they wouldn't have charged her $995.61 (the drugs only cost $926.61) for the prescription. They would have only charged her $925.61. [At least logic tells me that would be the case.]
So why are they charging her the copay in this case?
Of course the customer service people, didn't seem to grasp that concept, and were adamant about charging the copay. So now I'm forced to write a letter to the Appeals Board to file a grievance. Hopefully they are a little more intelligent than the customer service representative(s).
Then I saw the following article at Marketwatch.com "Real Estate 101: How to buy property in college towns", and wondered when did the US stop making stuff? When did investing become such a huge part of the economy to the point companies are no longer concerned with their products or employees, but only their bottom line? When did the financial industry become an industry? They don't make anything. All they do is move money around, and then charge you for doing just that.
What ever happened to hard work as a way of making money? My father did it, and I've done it for the past 35 years.
But then I thought, what's the point? Who's going to pay attention to me anyways? There are a lot smarter, and more influential people trying to get the same point across, without much success, so what makes me think I can accomplish what they can't?
So rather than dwell on the perverseness of the US health care system, or a national psyche that favors greed and profits over hard work, fairness and moral principles, I decided I would find something more uplifting to write about.
I decided to complain about celebrate the fact summer has finally arrived. It only took 3 months, but it may actually be here now. I know that because it's been hotter the last two days than it has been this entire year, and today is not supposed to be any different.
These are the first days this year, I've been able to go without arm warmers, or a long sleeve shirt at the start of a bike ride, and sitting at the coffee shop afterwards has actually been very comfortable.
Oh, and then I just realized, yesterday marked my 8½ year anniversary of dealing with my MCL, and not needing treatment.
I guess those are two things I can celebrate.
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