The New York Times has an interesting piece on the price of drugs, of which Pharmacy Benefit Managers are only part of the story. Add to this the general secrecracy over prices and Pharmacy benefits and drug list (aka the formulary) which are their negotiated discount drugs, brand or generic.

This has been my experience, even without insurance, it’s almost impossible to find out how much specific drugs are going to cost in advance; if there are cheaper generics; and if there is a better price.

I took an alternative route and did a deal with the devil for my most expensive drug. Despite having supplied the drug manufacturer with more financial information than I did to get a mortgage, they still declined to help financially, unless and until I applied for AND was declined for Medicaid.

I most probably would be eligible for (full scope) Medicaid, since I’ve already surpassed the 5-years/40-quarters requirement. That said, I’m really not comfortable in applying for any government assistance(despite assertions like this unofficial website) until I become a full US Citizen.

Faced with a circa $300 per month drug cost, I took an alternative route and was able to secure the best part of a years’ supply. Also, to get to this point, I’d spent probably 50+ hours trying to find alternative prices and supplies.

Like many other things, this is another example of the disgraceful profiteering in the US Medical for-profit business.

On the remainder of my medical billing, I’m about to give-up, the system has worn me to down, I just can’t waste any time or energy on it. In my last communication, I laid out specifically, in detail where the billing didn’t agree with what they’d told me the cost would be. Their answer:

Our financial aid has been applied and your balance is correct. If you have any other questions, feel free to contact our customer service team.

Which takes between 30-60 minutes per call since you have to go through multiple layers of call center and no one has any real authority to change anything which means they have to appeal to a “supervisor” and they never return calls. It’s time to pay them all off before they go into collection and hurt my credit rating.