Medicare D Ground Zero: Pharmacy cashier speaks

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http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/3/28/14523/8455

 

 

 

 

Medicare D Ground Zero: Pharmacy cashier speaks

by nyceve

 

Tue Mar 28, 2006 at 11:05:23 AM PDT

 

I'm in Los Angeles.

 

Yesterday, I went to the pharmacy of UCLA Medical center. I was there

to pick up and pay for Lipitor and a hypertension drug for my mother.

 

Lipitor, a cholesterol lowering drug, is very expensive. A 30 day

supply of the two drugs cost a little over $100.00.

 

When I got to the window the cashier and I had the following conversation.

 

Cashier: " So who's paying today? "

 

Me: I'm paying.

 

Cashier: " Is this for you? "

 

Me: " No, for my mother. "

 

Cashier: " Does she have Medicare D? "

 

Me: " No. We're too scared. "

 

Cashier: " I don't blame you. It's awful, the poor seniors. It's changing

already. "

 

Me: " What do you mean, changing? "

 

Cashier: " Everyday something changes. The co-pays are going up, the drug lists

change. It started at one price, the prices are inching up. They think no one

will notice. "

 

Me: " What do you mean inching up? "

 

Cashier: " It's some sort of bait and switch. "

 

Me: " Come on! I thought it was supposed to be stable for one year. "

 

Cashier: " Isn't bait and switch when you buy one thing and get something

different? No one knows anything. Seniors start to cry at the window. What

should I say to them? We can't follow it. There are hundreds of plans, they

keep changing. "

 

Me: It sounds really bad.

 

Cashier: It's a disaster. The doctors give them samples, if they can't get

whatthey need. It's crazy. Why does the government go after seniors who need

medicine and have only a little money? "

 

Me: Ask Mr. Bush.

 

Cashier: " That's what I tell them. We need a new government. The seniors will

tell Mr. Bush in November. You were smart to wait. Hopefully they'll do a new

plan. This one cannot survive. It's not working. "

 

This is ground zero of the Medicare D catastrophe.

 

What fucking pornography.

 

 

 

Tags: Medicare D, healthcare, seniors, prescription drugs (all tags)