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#1
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OT medicine costs killing me
I am so reluctant to ask this since I know you are getting blasted with spam
from drug dealers - but - our prescription bills are just overwhelming. Have any of you dared to order your medicines from Canada? We almost needed to go get a tire tool to unlock my jaws when I wrote a check for the drugstore today. I mentioned to my precious pharmacist that maybe I needed to go to Canada. His answer was a surprise. He said, "You could go a long way for that kind of money." So. Do any of you in the USA get your prescriptions supplied from Canada and are you comfortable with what you're getting and is the $s really any better? Please share your thoughts or experience with me. Polly |
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#2
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if I didn't get samples from my dr, my meds would cost me over $250/month.
-- Mary http://community.webshots.com/user/mardor1948 "Polly Esther" wrote in message nk.net... I am so reluctant to ask this since I know you are getting blasted with spam from drug dealers - but - our prescription bills are just overwhelming. Have any of you dared to order your medicines from Canada? We almost needed to go get a tire tool to unlock my jaws when I wrote a check for the drugstore today. I mentioned to my precious pharmacist that maybe I needed to go to Canada. His answer was a surprise. He said, "You could go a long way for that kind of money." So. Do any of you in the USA get your prescriptions supplied from Canada and are you comfortable with what you're getting and is the $s really any better? Please share your thoughts or experience with me. Polly |
#3
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I know that our Health Service in the UK comes under a lot of criticism (I
am heartily grateful for the NHS) but at least drug bills are never so high. I am really sorry for you and wish we could help. Only about 30% of people pay for drugs at all (children, young people in full time education, people with some chronic illnesses and everyone over 60 get all drugs completely free.) Those who pay, pay a maximum of about $11 per item and if the drug cost less than that anyway, can pay the actual cost. Of course we pay through taxes: but the sense of security is, IMHO, well worth it. I cannot imagine anyone watning to go back to the old, pre NHS, days. Marie "Polly Esther" wrote in message nk.net... I am so reluctant to ask this since I know you are getting blasted with spam from drug dealers - but - our prescription bills are just overwhelming. Have any of you dared to order your medicines from Canada? We almost needed to go get a tire tool to unlock my jaws when I wrote a check for the drugstore today. I mentioned to my precious pharmacist that maybe I needed to go to Canada. His answer was a surprise. He said, "You could go a long way for that kind of money." So. Do any of you in the USA get your prescriptions supplied from Canada and are you comfortable with what you're getting and is the $s really any better? Please share your thoughts or experience with me. Polly |
#4
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Polly:
As a Canadian, I will give you a short overview of how prescription costs work in Canada. By law, a pharmacy is not allowed to charge a markup on prescription drugs - they do, however, charge a dispensing fee - about $8-10 per each medicine. Add to that the fact that you are paying in Canadian $ - which is about .65-.70 US$ for each $1 CDN. Also, you have to get the script written by a Canadian doctor - an office visit is about $40 CDN. You bring a copy of your script written by your US Doctor, so that there isn't any mixup about what you should be taking. We also have generic versions of many prescription drugs - I have never had a problem with the generics on my Blood Pressure meds. Any other questions, - you can email me directly. Cathy in Vancouver Polly Esther wrote: I am so reluctant to ask this since I know you are getting blasted with spam from drug dealers - but - our prescription bills are just overwhelming. Have any of you dared to order your medicines from Canada? We almost needed to go get a tire tool to unlock my jaws when I wrote a check for the drugstore today. I mentioned to my precious pharmacist that maybe I needed to go to Canada. His answer was a surprise. He said, "You could go a long way for that kind of money." So. Do any of you in the USA get your prescriptions supplied from Canada and are you comfortable with what you're getting and is the $s really any better? Please share your thoughts or experience with me. Polly |
#5
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On Sat, 27 Mar 2004 08:23:28 -0000, "Marie Lewis"
wrote: I know that our Health Service in the UK comes under a lot of criticism (I am heartily grateful for the NHS) but at least drug bills are never so high. I am really sorry for you and wish we could help. Only about 30% of people pay for drugs at all (children, young people in full time education, people with some chronic illnesses and everyone over 60 get all drugs completely free.) Those who pay, pay a maximum of about $11 per item and if the drug cost less than that anyway, can pay the actual cost. Of course we pay through taxes: but the sense of security is, IMHO, well worth it. I cannot imagine anyone watning to go back to the old, pre NHS, days. Marie Guess what? I'm in full-time education, and have been for about 3 years in the UK, and I pay for my prescriptions. I always have, since I came over nearly 9 years ago. Someone in the Home Office said that I could be deported if I every made a claim for any benefit. Is it true? Who wants to find out? So I keep paying my £6.30 every month for each of my two prescriptions. Yes, that is 1/10th of what it would cost for the one medication in the US. But it annoys me when folks make blanket statements. I am a permanent British resident, in full-time education in the UK, and I pay for my medications, and I always have. -- Jo in Scotland |
#6
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Marie Lewis wrote: I know that our Health Service in the UK comes under a lot of criticism (I am heartily grateful for the NHS) but at least drug bills are never so high. I am really sorry for you and wish we could help. Only about 30% of people pay for drugs at all (children, young people in full time education, people with some chronic illnesses and everyone over 60 get all drugs completely free.) Those who pay, pay a maximum of about $11 per item and if the drug cost less than that anyway, can pay the actual cost. Of course we pay through taxes: but the sense of security is, IMHO, well worth it. I cannot imagine anyone watning to go back to the old, pre NHS, days. This is so true! I am the only one of the three of us who pays for drugs: James is under 16 and Alan is a type 1 (insulin dependant) diabetic, so both get all drugs free. In addition, James gets dental treatment free. Alan doesn't, but if he needs antibiotics for a tooth abscess, those come free. He also gets a free eye exam every year, but pays for his specs. There are some good reasons to leave the UK, but our health service isn't one of them! It doesn't always provide the best treatment available, but you will find most if us wishing heartily that the whole thing was a lot less beurocratic, so more money was spent on treatment and the best drugs and less on paperwork and top heavy management! -- Kate XXXXXX Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk Click on Kate's Pages and explore! |
#7
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This was one of the biggest issues my sister and I had to deal with our mom.
She lives on less than 800 per month but is on 7 medications. One costs $120 per month and one costs $110 per month. The other 5 probably cost around $100 for all of them per month. Needless to say, that doesn't leave much left over for anything else like electricity, phone and food. When mom was handling her meds, she would either not refill the script, take it every other day or cut the pills in half to save money. She does get $165 per month towards her medications which helps. We now have a caretaker for her who handles her meds and gets them refilled when needed. She is also good at getting a months worth of samples of the most expensive ones from the doctor and every and again. Other than that, my sister and I pick up the excess so mom gets what she needs. We just tell her the insurance pays for it. We actually set up an account that the caretaker can access with a check card when she gets the meds refilled. I am in charge of mom's finances and I have access to all the accounts so I can keep track of what is being spent where. With mom being 1000 miles away, this system works really well for us. -- Alice in NJ, Royal Cybrarian www.ourcyberfamily.us "Time is that quality of nature which keeps events from happening all at once. Lately it doesn't seem to be working." Anonymous "Kate Dicey" wrote in message ... : : : Marie Lewis wrote: : : I know that our Health Service in the UK comes under a lot of criticism (I : am heartily grateful for the NHS) but at least drug bills are never so high. : I am really sorry for you and wish we could help. : : Only about 30% of people pay for drugs at all (children, young people in : full time education, people with some chronic illnesses and everyone over 60 : get all drugs completely free.) : : Those who pay, pay a maximum of about $11 per item and if the drug cost less : than that anyway, can pay the actual cost. : : Of course we pay through taxes: but the sense of security is, IMHO, well : worth it. I cannot imagine anyone watning to go back to the old, pre NHS, : days. : : This is so true! I am the only one of the three of us who pays for : drugs: James is under 16 and Alan is a type 1 (insulin dependant) : diabetic, so both get all drugs free. In addition, James gets dental : treatment free. Alan doesn't, but if he needs antibiotics for a tooth : abscess, those come free. He also gets a free eye exam every year, but : pays for his specs. There are some good reasons to leave the UK, but : our health service isn't one of them! It doesn't always provide the : best treatment available, but you will find most if us wishing heartily : that the whole thing was a lot less beurocratic, so more money was spent : on treatment and the best drugs and less on paperwork and top heavy : management! : -- : Kate XXXXXX : Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons : http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk : Click on Kate's Pages and explore! |
#8
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I totally agree. Mom doesn't have many expenses now, but she still needs to
have a good quality of life. What gets me going is that even on her income (remember, it's less than 800 per month), she is only entitled to $10 per month in food stamps. That's ten bucks - per month! And I cannot begin to tell you what she has to go through to get those - I know, I go with her every June to sit and wait and sit and wait and sit and fill out all the forms. I have no idea how the elderly do this by themselves. But she uses the food stamps. It gets her milk and bread when she needs it. But then you see folks in the food line wearing $200 sneakers and $300 jackets and designer handbags paying for most of their food items in food stamps. Go figure! -- Alice in NJ, Royal Cybrarian www.ourcyberfamily.us "Time is that quality of nature which keeps events from happening all at once. Lately it doesn't seem to be working." Anonymous "dogsnus" wrote in message ... : "AliceW" wrote in : : : : This was one of the biggest issues my sister and I had to deal with our : mom. She lives on less than 800 per month but is on 7 medications. One : costs $120 per month and one costs $110 per month. The other 5 probably : cost around $100 for all of them per month. Needless to say, that : doesn't leave much left over for anything else like electricity, phone : and food. : There was a time, when my mom was in an assisted living enviroment that, even : WITH state help for her medications, she had a whopping $8.00/month to live : on. : Totally unacceptable care for our elderly folks, IMO. : : We went through a series of pure hellish events trying to get her needs taken : care of adequately and still allow her enough money for frivolities : such as oh, food and shelter. : : I learned enough to know that if I need taken care of in my old age, : buy our government, I hope I'm too senile to know about it. : : I'm not a bitter person about things, but that is the one thing : I still have a sour taste in my mouth from dealing with. : (In Idaho, she was allowed to have a total asset of $200.00 in : a savings account, but only_ if it was earmarked for burial costs.) : : Terri : : |
#9
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"Johanna Gibson" wrote in message ... On Sat, 27 Mar 2004 08:23:28 -0000, "Marie Lewis" wrote: I know that our Health Service in the UK comes under a lot of criticism (I am heartily grateful for the NHS) but at least drug bills are never so high. I am really sorry for you and wish we could help. Only about 30% of people pay for drugs at all (children, young people in full time education, people with some chronic illnesses and everyone over 60 get all drugs completely free.) Those who pay, pay a maximum of about $11 per item and if the drug cost less than that anyway, can pay the actual cost. Of course we pay through taxes: but the sense of security is, IMHO, well worth it. I cannot imagine anyone watning to go back to the old, pre NHS, days. Marie Guess what? I'm in full-time education, and have been for about 3 years in the UK, and I pay for my prescriptions. I always have, since I came over nearly 9 years ago. Someone in the Home Office said that I could be deported if I every made a claim for any benefit. Is it true? Who wants to find out? So I keep paying my £6.30 every month for each of my two prescriptions. Yes, that is 1/10th of what it would cost for the one medication in the US. But it annoys me when folks make blanket statements. I am a permanent British resident, in full-time education in the UK, and I pay for my medications, and I always have. -- Jo in Scotland I do not know your age, but I was referring to young people under 18. You misinterpreted my comment. It is your choice whether or not you claim. |
#10
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Polly Esther wrote:
I am so reluctant to ask this since I know you are getting blasted with spam from drug dealers - but - our prescription bills are just overwhelming. Have any of you dared to order your medicines from Canada? We almost needed to go get a tire tool to unlock my jaws when I wrote a check for the drugstore today. I mentioned to my precious pharmacist that maybe I needed to go to Canada. His answer was a surprise. He said, "You could go a long way for that kind of money." So. Do any of you in the USA get your prescriptions supplied from Canada and are you comfortable with what you're getting and is the $s really any better? Please share your thoughts or experience with me. Polly I have wondered about this myself. Presently we have a prescription plan and I take 7 medicines daily for which I must pay $30 eash a month. Now I have just been diagnosed with something new and will soon be taking at least 2 more drugs daily when they find out what stage I'm at. Retirement for DH means no more reduced costs and that really is frightening. -- Bonnie, the Quilt Lady NJ |
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