Get Your Doctors To Give You The Goods!
Posted on January 16, 2008 by Melissa
Filed Under Frugality, Insurance, Medical
I spent most of my morning at the doctor today. My asthma has been acting up for over a month now and I just couldn’t take it anymore. I’ve been putting off going to the doctor (laziness? fear? I’m not sure) but it’s to the point where I can’t sleep at night and I’m draining all of my emergency inhalers. I just couldn’t avoid it any longer.
At the beginning of this year our health insurance benefits changed slightly. Our office and prescription co-pays stayed the same but now we are required to pay 10% of the cost of any bloodwork performed (up to $100).
After puffing on a new cocktail of nebulizer meds and getting an injection in my hip of something that burned like crazy I was able to breathe fully again. Whew! To help me get over this flare up I’ve been prescribed a host of new meds. It’s a bummer (I still have 2 months worth of the old meds left at home) but I’m hoping this new stuff will do the trick.
I’ve been saving money by getting my long term meds in 3-month supplies by mail order. Unfortunately, this time we are experimenting with new meds so I had to get them one month at a time at Walgreens. There goes my medical budget for the month! I paid $10 for the visit co-pay and a whopping $125 in prescription co-pays. Asthma inhalers are pricey right now and generics are hard to find due to recent formula changes. Blood was drawn during this visit, too. I’ll have to add that 10% fee to the overall damage when I get the bill. Sigh.
The good news is that despite being lightheaded from the steroids I remembered to ask three very important questions about the new meds he was prescribing me:
- Do you have any in-office samples or freebies?
- Do you have coupons or vouchers I can use at the pharmacy for that med?
- Does that med come in generic form or is there a cheaper alternative?
By simply asking those questions I was able to get:
- 2 full size samples of the new inhalers (worth $70 in co-pays)
- 2 coupons for the future refills of those inhalers (worth $25 off)
- I switched a different long term med to a cheaper alternative (saving $30 a month in co-pays).
I also nonchalantly asked if I would need a prescription to get some replacement tubing/mouthpiece for my nebulizer and he slipped me a new set for free. That was a big help because I would have had to go to a specialty medical store for that. I totally scored.
So even though I had to spend over $125 in meds today I was able to get over $125 in freebies and discounts. Just goes to show it never hurts to ask questions about your meds at the doctor’s office (even if everything else that happens there hurts). You might be surprised at what you can save.
Man, that was one painful injection! I’m gonna be sore for days, I just know it…
Image Source: Son of Groucho
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I’m glad to hear you’re feeling better! My philosophy is that “it never hurts to ask.” If you don’t ask, you don’t know what they have to offer! I hope your new meds work out for you.
I’m so sorry you are having trouble with your asthma. I hope the new meds work well for you. Great job scoring the free ones!
Melissa,
Greetings from a fellow asthmatic. Great post with some great advice. I’m going to have to remember your pointers about asking the Dr about samples next visit.
As for your asthma, unless you’ve already pinpointed a different cause, I would guess that the stress and sleep-deprivation caused by your recent move would have a lot to do with it. But a significant cause that you might not have considered is off-gassing. That new house is probably pretty much a toxic dump right now and your lungs, weakened from the stress and lack of sleep, are feeling the effects.
Nearly all, if not all, of the materials in your house are off-gassing. New carpet, for example. As well as the new cabinetry (though less if they’re all-wood construction instead of the more common composite/particle board construction). Paint, caulking, plastics, etc. All of these products are producing fumes that are taxing your lungs. Then there’s simply the dust produced in construction that settles on everything including walls and ceilings that gets kicked up when you move in.
I hope the new meds help calm things down for you. But don’t write off the hope that things might return closer to normal in 6 months or so as the off-gassing starts to wane, the dust settles and gets filtered and cleaned, and your body adjusts to your new environment.
so glad you are feeling better…you are so right about asking those questions! if anyone is looking forward to a drs. appt. they should take the time to write any question regarding meds. or med.care down on a piece of paper and carry it to your dr. in case you get “brain freeze” and forget to ask. when you get to your appt. make sure the list of questions is in your hand and not your pocket or purse. this saves time and trouble for you as well as your dr.
I wish my doctor would give me samples. My current doctor never has anything that I need :(
Good morning:
Thanks for contributing this post to this week’s Carnival of Family life, hosted at Health Plans Plus!
Great tips. My youngest was just diagnosed with exertional asthma and we came out of the office with 2 Advair disks, a significant savings.
Be sure to stop by the Carnival tomorrow and check out the other wonderful entries!
JHS
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