The Buckets by Greg Cravens for May 10, 2024

I have a med that is $100 for a 3 month supply. If I buy one month, its $125! The retail price for 3 mos says $2,248.99! I can’t believe my insurance company is paying that much for it. So why would I have to without my medicare advantage plan? It’s all B.S.

We steal from everybody else, fill out some form for the IRS, and pass the savings on to you.

Steal from the poor and give to the rich. Thus it has always been.

How much do guillotines cost? Asking for a friend.

$350 a month? Cheap stuff! One of mine thanks to insurance costs me $25 per month. The actual cost according to the insurance and the 120 day review I get to ensure I still require it is $18,000 per dose. (2 injections)

I don’t understand it either.

The supercomputer would have no luck ending with a transcendental equation. Or end up trying to divide an integer by zero. RIP supercomputer.

One of my meds is $306/month via Medicare – $15 for 90 days from costplusdrugs. Thank you, Mr. Cuban.

The American medical industry is dominated by huge insurance and huge medical companies, they provide volume pricing and stick it to anyone outside their channel.

Drugs, visit to a hospital paying cash, etc is priced at max price to anyone who is not their primary, preferred customer.

We should start with complete, total, instant and constant transparency. A hospital should have to list their cash price AND their best behind the scenes deals for every service.

The other mind twister is Medicare billing. As an example, when my mother was dealing with cancer we would get a $20,000 bill from the hospital. We would ignore the bill. Next we would get a $8,000 bill from the hospital with an update that Medicare informed the hospital they could only charge $8,000 (per their contract). We would ignore the bill. Next we would get a $800 bill after the hospital received payment from the secondary insurance company, though we might have to remind them to pursue this channel. We would pay $800. If we had paid the $20,000 they would have been ecstatic. But if you knew how to play the game, you could wait until they had progressed past Medicare and your secondary insurance.

I can explain it… The drug company sells the information from your discount card application to marketing companies and others, thereby increasing your junk mail, junk email, and junk phone calls and texts. The really bad part is when some e-lowlife steals the drug company’s database and sells it to dozens of scammers. Guard your info!

When we were in England, my Mother had to visit the emergency room. We were seen immediately, possibly because she was older and they weren’t sure what was wrong with her. We asked for the bill, explaining that we were Americans and didn’t qualify for the free medical care. They replied that they didn’t have any forms for making out a bill, no one who would know how to make out the form if they had one and anyway everyone who was getting paid was busy taking care of sick people

On the other hand, when my son needed surgery for his cancer, he had to wait six weeks for the doctor to have an opening in his schedule. And, later, his treatments were postponed because the insurance company was deciding whether to pay for them. This was the president of the Midwestern Prostate Ontological group being dictated to by a pencil pusher who probably never graduated from college. That was in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States of America.

We pay more for medical care than anyone else on earth and it’s not because we are paying for actual medical care. We are spending money to support a huge insurance industry with money that then isn’t available to provide for patient care.

the reason is the inflated price is what they claim on Medicare/Medicaid that they then collect from the government.

Several US Senators recently published findings that it costs Novo Nordisk about $5.00 USD to make one month’s dosage of Ozampic / Weygovi, including the pen. In the USA it costs the patient anywhere from $5.00 to $800+ per month depending on insurance / Medicare coverage. Here in Canada it’s free to the patients, but I don’t take it, so I would not know. It is also said by more than a few that Novo is keeping the supply of Ozamic / Weygovi low to maintain a higher price. Take care of yourself to minimize your dependence on pharmaceuticals. Eat right, or at least better, Get some exercise, get enough sleep and do what you can. But don’t beat yourself up if you have a burger or the occasional slice of pizza. But do quit smoking anything. Switch to edibles.

Should be an easy enough decision to make.

Hey, someone’s got to live in that Villa in Hawaii.

Hey Greg, your certificate over on your Hubris site has expired. My browser keeps warning me not to go there.

they had me on cesamet about 15 years ago, usually prescribed for cancer patients for nausea, and no more than 1 a day, i was taking 4 a day and when i first tried to get it at the drug store, because i was not a cancer patient, one bottle of 30 was $32,000….not a typo…$32,000…the government gave it to me free for 2 years, then the agency disappeared over night, literally, it was such a controlled substance i had to call and let them know when it was delivered and return the prescription bottle…i couldn’t find them, the pharmacy couldn’t find them, my doctor couldn’t find them…literally over night

It’s the difference between “rationale, expected profit” and “price-gouging”.

Whenever I hear about cost of medical supplies or in a ward in the US I’m kind of baffled.

While I needed it the Insulin cost me $~10 per month, while the insurance covered the rest of about $150 per month. My initial stay at the hospital in intensive care was $160 for 10 days reimbursement from me to the insurance company. (Not per day: in total.)

I read that many US citizens have to shell out several $100 per month and that even with a health plan.