... (which I didn't ask for, btw). The stuff cost like 4 bucks OTC for 250 pills or something like that. But with the prescription, the pharmacy wanted to charge the insurance company $60 for the same thing.

I have no love for insurance companies, but that is ridiculous.

-- Mal

Maybe aspirin with codeine?

I get it OTC.

Did the pharmacist laugh out loud when he saw the prescription? And point you to the shelves holding aspirin?

I pay less that way actually, I’m also prescribed Prilosec and Allegra which are also available OTC.

they asked if I wanted an opioid for the pain before I left. I didn't (I hate the stuff), and said I wouldn't mind a Tylenol. Nurse said they couldn't do that because they'd need a new prescription.

It's a crazy ass system.

The next morning I had some mild discomfort and asked if I could have a couple of Advil. The nurse told me they couldn't give me Advil, but they could give me morphine.

Stool softener on the shelf side by side...one store brand costs say, $4.00, while Colace cost $17.00--read the label and it is the same, damned thing. Always compare labels.

what Medicare will pay and what the docs ultimately accept. It's nowhere close to what the original bill was.

I cannot think of another business where you have no idea what it's going to cost when you sign up for their services. Someday we will be like a real grown-up country and give our citizens the healthcare they need without bankrupting them.

... and the right hand knoweth not what the left hand doith. And if I get put on hold one more time and have to listen to a canned message urging me to use their "fast, easy" website when I was calling because the website was down, I will slaughter a small puppy and run for Governor of South Dakota.

This is for the State or Federal agencies, the for-profit insurance company answers right away and even lets me talk to a human who speaks understandable English.

-- Mal

It's all about profit, huge salaries for CEOs, stock prices, cutting wages and image. It's never about making a better product or providing a better service.

Sometimes the corporate behemoth will stumble onto, or be forced to provide, better products and services but it's never their priority.

This is how economies stagnate and fail to meet the needs of a nation.

The best measure of the health care system of a country is the life expectancy rate of a country. Even though we pay three times per capita for health care cost the United States.. . . wait for it . . . . .25th in the world. Croatia is 26th. Did I mention that the United States is around 4% of the world population but even with our "superior" health care system we have around a 16% of the worlds Covid deaths.

We are screwed.

[link:https://www.worlddata.info/life-expectancy.php|