Hardy came home Thursday evening complaining of an ear ache...we just chalked it up to allergies. Friday it was the same and even worse as the day went on. By Saturday the lymph node behind his left ear was swollen and he was rating his pain an 8. We bought some OTC ear drops that were supposed to help numb pain and itching. It worked for a little while but quickly wore off and eventually the drops were offering no comfort. He was also taking ibuprofen to help with the pain/swelling and a heat pillow every now and then. I felt bad for him, I knew at this point it was an ear infection and obviously a pretty nasty one since his lymph node was in overdrive.
Sunday morning I pushed and pushed for him to stop by an Urgent Care place to get this taken care of since it's obviously not going away on its own. We stopped at one in Oakwood and they didn't accept his insurance ( go figure ) so we just decided to go into Gainesville and visit the Take Care Clinic inside Walgreens. He was seen right away and the NP confirmed exactly what we suspected, only he actually had a double ear infection and polyps in his nose?!? Hardy rarely ever gets sick, but I guess when he does...it all hits the fan at once.
She chalked the nasal polyps up to sinuses, and apparently even though his left ear was more painful, his right ear was more irritated and his ear drum is almost perforated!!! So she wrote him two prescriptions and said we could fill them there at Walgreens. We waited and waited, then they asked for his insurance card and informed us BCBS dropped Walgreens as a provider for prescriptions?!? So I called the Rite Aid I use in Flowery Branch, they said they would get it transferred over and to allow about 1hr. We headed back home and decided to get groceries to buy some time....an hour later I called Rite Aid to see if they've filled it (as they instructed) and they said they JUST NOW got the fax (now I'm getting irritated and Hardy's of course suffering). They ask for 45mins-1hr to fill it and claim they'll text us when it's ready. Almost 2hrs pass, still no text, so I call and they say "Oh yea, it's ready". Hardy goes by to pick it up - - the ear drops he was prescribed has no generic and because he never goes to the doctor, he's nowhere near meeting his deductible and they wanted $141 for the ear drops alone!! To top that off the oral antibiotic he was prescribed is only filled in 3 pill increments and it's $20 for 3 pills!! I was so livid...not at Walgreens, not at Rite Aid, but clearly at BCBS and their lack of coverage. I've never had those kind of issues!!
I then had to call the Take Care Clinic, speak to the NP and ask her to switch the ear drops to something cheaper. She said no problem and did it right away, however, if his ear drum does perforate he can't use the ear drops any more (with the original expensive drops he could have).
He opted to use a sick day today and stay home, his ears hurt so bad he can barely do normal daily activities. I just hope these meds kick in soon and give him some relief!
****QUESTION - Do any of you have individual insurance plans (meaning not through your place of work) that you would recommend to others? I've been looking online, and find great prices, but high deductibles. We can't switch until PJ gets here, but we may have to.
We have bcbs. We are not in a group. We pay $560 a month with maternity and have a $5000 deductible each!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIf I added Hardy and PJ to my plan at work it would be $250 a week!! Unbelievable!
DeleteOMG!!!! this morning I typed up this HUGE response and put a lot of time into it and it showed me that it posted and it's not here!!! Well now I am a little pissed... blogger is almost as annoying as facebook :-/ anyways, I can go on for ever (like I did in my first comment) but bottom line is do not use United Healthcare and you can always call or check on-line with your individual plans before getting scripts filled/going to the dr. All copay info is listed and how much each drug will cost. You do not have to pick up your medication even if the pharmacy has already filled it. If you don't touch it they can keep it and reverse the claim and you won't be charged (I have heard of some people getting 'bullied' into picking up their medications, but you do NOT HAVE to). I got tons of info, text me if you want :)
ReplyDeleteWe have an individual family plan through bcbs (of Alabama, not Ga). We pay $418 a month. It's gone up about every six months in the past two years or so. I think it was around $350 or so when we first got it. All insurance is annoying, though. Unfortunately, there's just no good way to go about it :( I feel your pain. Hope Hardy gets better soon...ear infections are the worst!
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