..|.. Part 2

One last ditch effort in order to get another supply of injections before I officially go off my meds as of Monday. Knowing bureaucracy, I called the new insurance company pharmacy to see if they got the script fax from the doctor's office. Nope, was the answer. I called the doctor's office and they faxed it on Thursday and would fax it again on Friday. In one last ditch effort, I called the old pharmacy to see if I could get it at cost. After a 3 minute hold wait, I was told yes, you could have a one months supply for $2,200. There it was . . . The choice to go without for a week or pay out a couple grand for peace of mind. I decided to go without.

Frankly, it will be a relief to go without the bruising, the flu, the intense headaches. Then I was struck with another thought. It's cheaper to treat a flare up of MS then it is for the semi/pseudo preventative. From what I understand a flare up is treated with Solumedrol/prednisone. With insurance, I paid $10 for the steroids and for the nurse visit and IV's $34. I know interferon has to cultivated and extracted and formulated, but $2,200 for 12 syringes?

This next part will probably tick a lot of people off. My little blow up over insurance got some people talking: Steve just doesn't understand, he doesn't know what it's like to pay more for insurance and get less. The next thing is "It needs to be fixed . . . " It got me to thinking. First off, I don't think most people can argue an issue like this without it being a personal thing. In order to do so, you have to be logical, knowledgeable, and dispassionate. The next thing is are you a bottom up thinker or a top down thinker?

To me, if your a bottom up thinker, in this situation, you argue how to make the situation better for yourself. Easiest answer is that the government needs to step in. If you're a top down thinker, you argue on how to make the situation better for everyone. You try to fix what's wrong with the entire system. I'm not going to get on a soap box and say this or that needs to be done. There's no right answer because there are no answers. I don't think socialized medicine is the answer and there are to many variables to try and fix they system.

What do you do? You make a choice: $2,200 or the greater chance for a flare up and $50 for steroids.