Rather
member
One rant before I turn in for the night.
The craziness of the opioid problem and insurance companies is enough to turn me into an activist. My OS prescribed 42 hydrocodone for the 1st week after surgery with instructions for 1-2 every 4-6 hours. At the end of that week, I requested a refill which he promptly submitted to my local pharmacy through an integrated e-prescription system that allows him to do this without having to use the special paper scripts - this is especially handy since we live an hour away for his office.
But when I called the pharmacy to see if the script had been filled, I was told they hadn't received it. After multiple calls, I discovered that the system was connected to insurance so the insurance company could put a hold on it before it reached the pharmacy. It seems that my insurance company (employer-provided PPO premier plan) was doing that with all opioid refills. The doc could override the system, but then the pharmacy was told that the script was held for review by the insurance company and that it would be at least a week to review it before making a decision. So I asked my pharmacist if I had any other options besides going without pain management for a week. He said that he could fill the script if I was willing to forego the insurance and pay cash - which is what I did.
So in an effort now to appear responsible and accountable with opioids, the insurance company decides to delay prescribed pain meds when they can easily see that the patient just had a knee replacement. And in the end, I got the meds, which had I been part of the abusing community would not help address that problem. But the insurance company folks can pat themselves on the back and show with numbers how they are contributing to reducing the epidemic. Nevermind that some of those numbers come from denying pain meds prescribed by doctors to people who need them.
In the middle of recovering from this surgery, this is not a battle patients should need to fight. Rant off...goodnight.
The craziness of the opioid problem and insurance companies is enough to turn me into an activist. My OS prescribed 42 hydrocodone for the 1st week after surgery with instructions for 1-2 every 4-6 hours. At the end of that week, I requested a refill which he promptly submitted to my local pharmacy through an integrated e-prescription system that allows him to do this without having to use the special paper scripts - this is especially handy since we live an hour away for his office.
But when I called the pharmacy to see if the script had been filled, I was told they hadn't received it. After multiple calls, I discovered that the system was connected to insurance so the insurance company could put a hold on it before it reached the pharmacy. It seems that my insurance company (employer-provided PPO premier plan) was doing that with all opioid refills. The doc could override the system, but then the pharmacy was told that the script was held for review by the insurance company and that it would be at least a week to review it before making a decision. So I asked my pharmacist if I had any other options besides going without pain management for a week. He said that he could fill the script if I was willing to forego the insurance and pay cash - which is what I did.
So in an effort now to appear responsible and accountable with opioids, the insurance company decides to delay prescribed pain meds when they can easily see that the patient just had a knee replacement. And in the end, I got the meds, which had I been part of the abusing community would not help address that problem. But the insurance company folks can pat themselves on the back and show with numbers how they are contributing to reducing the epidemic. Nevermind that some of those numbers come from denying pain meds prescribed by doctors to people who need them.
In the middle of recovering from this surgery, this is not a battle patients should need to fight. Rant off...goodnight.