MIAMI — Breast cancer survivor Ginny Mason was thrilled to get health coverage under the Affordable Care Act despite her pre-existing condition. But when she realized her arthritis medication fell under a particularly costly tier of her plan, she was forced to switch to another brand.
Under the plan, her Celebrex would have cost $648 a month until she met her $1,500 prescription deductible, followed by an $85 monthly co-pay.
Mason is one of the many Americans with serious illnesses — including cancer, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis — who are indeed finding relatively low monthly premiums under President Obama’s law. But some have been shocked at how much their prescriptions are costing as insurers are sorting drug prices into a complex tier system and in some cases charging co-insurance rates as high as 50 percent. That can leave patients on the hook for thousands.
“I was grateful for the Affordable Care Act because it didn’t turn me down but … it’s like where’s the affordable on this one,” said Mason, a 61-year-old from West Lafayette, Indiana who currently pays an $800 monthly premium.
Before the federal health law took effect, Mason paid slightly more for her monthly premium on a plan that didn’t cover her arthritis or pain medications and some routine doctor’s visits.
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7 comments:
Should have read it before they re-elected him...
Thanks to the Democrats, we're all getting screwed!
no poster 12:49:
thanks to the american populace for all of this... We are screwed because of them...
Oh and since you said what you did, your part of the problem too... there is no two parties and there is no one you can vote in or out that would and will fix this...
the american people are to blame for being so stupid... for believing anything they are told... and for allowing this to happen and for being complicit...
1:22 Right on. I've said it before, we may be able to survive Obama but we will never be able to survive the mentality of those who voted for him.
This is one gift horse that just....keeps.... on.... giving, isn't it?
I'm no great fan of Obamacare either, but the pharmaceutical companies play a part in this also. They charge exorbitant prices for some of these drugs. Also, if you shop around, prices vary between pharmacies.
5:39
They have to charge a lot of money, because Research and Development costs an absurd amount of money (that way thousands of people don't die from an untested and unregulated drug). The only reason scripts are so much more expensive here is because we are the last industrialized nation on earth that doesn't provide subsidies for patients, instead we provide subsidies for the pharmaceutical companies. And before you quip, no, Obama had nothing to do with this; but you can blame him for not trying to eliminate this burden. Actually you can blame both sides.
This is as basic as it gets when it comes to prescription drugs costing so much in America and I wish more people really understood this.
Insurance companies don't want to pay for Celebrex. It's hard on the heart and the gut thereby creating more problems the insurance company has to pay for as well as being no more effective than Tylenol.
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