Insurance Good

I mentioned earlier that I went for a doctors visit this morning that started at 930 and which by all rights should have been over at 10 and which lasted until 1145. Most of that time was my sitting in the examining room...waiting. It was my routine visit to get the hemoglobin A1C and the lipids checked so I can get renewals on all the meds for high blood pressure, sugar, cholesterol and what not. It was also my quarterly chiding about not gaining weight which I did and there better be a reversal of direction in three months, etc.

Now for the real reason for this post. I mentioned to the doc that I have had some stuffiness in my right ear for the last month or so. Sort of like you have water in the ear but actually don't. She took a look and concluded that yes there was a fluid build up in the inner ear and that some prescription Sudafed and some nasal spray would fix it up.

Upon filling the prescriptions I was floored by the cost of the little bottle of Nasonex spray...$79.52 for a little tiny bottle of nose spray. With insurance my copay was only $30.00 but even that seems excessive for a little bottle of nose spray. It can't possibly cost a fraction of that much to manufacture it. Every time I see one these I think of the 45 million people in the U.S. (many of whom are children) that have no medical insurance. They wouldn't be able to afford to have this drug or would have to forgo eating for a week or two to have it. Granted a little fluid in the year is an irritation and not life threatening but in a child it might mean some hearing damage or worse. Me I already can't hear thunder.