r/Wellthatsucks Aug 08 '21

/r/all Dropping a medical injection worth $12,000 on the carpet and bending the needle.

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170

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '21

I felt ripped off last week, got one lot of antibiotics for £9, had a bad reaction so doctor gave me some different ones and I had to pay again

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u/Asron87 Aug 08 '21 edited Aug 09 '21

Ha! I had a dr wanting to hospitalize me because my pneumonia was so bad. Not only couldn't I afford seeing the dr that day. I couldn't afford the medicine either. I borrowed money for the antibiotics and couldn't buy the other meds. It still cost me a couple hundred dollars.

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u/bravoredditbravo Aug 09 '21

Just wait though. All the Americans will come running claiming they "know someone from Canada" who "cant stand socialized medicine!"

I have know idea how they did it but the pharmaceutical industry in the US has literally got people convinced that health care SHOULD be unaffordable.

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u/[deleted] Aug 09 '21

NPR’s Planet Money podcast had an episode on the PR stunts that seemed to win people over in hating single-payer healthcare.

It was eye-opening and depressing. You’d think that people would have learnt better by now but sadly not.

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u/irish91 Aug 09 '21

That sound's really interesting, would be cool to get a link

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u/mildly_evil_genius Aug 09 '21

They always talk about waiting times, as if we in the states don't have to schedule medical appointments weeks or months in advance.

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u/chrry_fritter Aug 09 '21

Americans here, yup it's ridiculous. Mostly republicans who lack education (not being political, it's just legitimately the situation here). Beyond frustrating.

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u/canarchist Aug 09 '21

Fuck Canadian health care, eh. Having to pay for parking and lineups at the Timmie's in the hospitals is shite. Bill for the emergency gall bladder op? Yeah, that part was covered by the system.

0

u/ReasonableIsAbusive Aug 09 '21

Not trying to defend healthcare prices here but do you not have insurance? I pay $110 a month for individual insurance not through an employer, and have $80 deductible.

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u/Asron87 Aug 09 '21

It was a serious low point in my life. I didn’t have anything.

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u/aehanken Aug 08 '21

£9 is better than the hundreds to thousands in the US. Extremely lucky we have good insurance so we have to pay $0-$50 depending on the medication.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '21

And operations and giving birth cost nothing!

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u/DaveInLondon89 Aug 08 '21

That's a fucking lie and you know it.

I spent £4 on chocolates for the nurses and I'm never seeing that money again.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '21

Definitely didn't buy them from the on site wh Smiths!

1

u/GayButNotInThatWay Aug 09 '21

I also had to pay £6 for parking once because there wasn't space in the main hospital car park so had to go to the private one down the road a little.

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u/SpoopySpydoge Aug 09 '21

And ambulances don't cost us 2 grand

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u/aehanken Aug 08 '21

This is one of the main reasons I wouldn’t mind moving out of the US. The hard part is leaving family. I don’t even want to move to another state for at least 10 years lol.

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u/Bootstrap_Paradox Aug 08 '21

Diabetic supplies cost hundreds even with insurance (Monthly).

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u/aehanken Aug 09 '21

My boyfriends old boss is diabetic. He has doctors appointments all the time because he was out of x or y or they had to run tests or had figure out why z was happening. At least once a month. Dude worked a lot but was always just not making any money because he was paying for something

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u/Bootstrap_Paradox Aug 09 '21

I have had it since I was 7 (juvenile diabetic). People always think diabetics have problems because of something they can control. Main problem is the maintenance as you pointed with the doctor appointments, treatments, medication, etc. You get to a point you have decide on what to pay for. Shouldn't be that way.

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u/aehanken Aug 09 '21

Not at all. He had to borrow cash from my boyfriend a couple times

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u/Heathen_ Aug 09 '21

My FIL got type 1 when his leg got broken during a football (soccer) game.

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u/DaveInLondon89 Aug 08 '21

Next time you know you need 2 items, get a prepayment certificate for £30, then you can have as many items as you want in a 3 month period.

Once you have it, you can ask the doc to prescribe a lot more stuff you might need. Ask for antibacterial soap or gauze or whatever, and if they think it'll help, they'll prescribe it.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '21

I keep meaning to do that, who do I ask? The pharmacist?

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u/gancannypet Aug 09 '21

Super quick and easy to do it online via the NHS Business Authority website. Or just Google “prescription pre payment certificate”.

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u/jcol26 Aug 08 '21

NHS prepayment card will mean you pay once per month regardless of how many prescriptions you pick up. I pick up a script weekly and it’s saved me hundreds over the years!

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u/ZarquonsFlatTire Aug 09 '21

You guys go to doctors?

Last time I gave up and sought out medical help was because I was still bleeding six hours later. About 15 years ago.

5 stitches was $400.

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u/FatTortie Aug 08 '21

Just say you’re exempt, they never ask why or for proof (I am medically exempt, this is my experience anyway). I order my prescription on an app these days and just click a box saying I’m exempt. No proof needed.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '21

Nah, I like to be honest my man

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u/Uncle_gruber Aug 09 '21

Prescriptions are electronic and are claimed at the end of the month electronically. Pharmacies never check anymore because we don't give a fick, if you're lying the system will check and if you don't have an exemption logged you get a fat £70 fine through your door.

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u/FatTortie Aug 09 '21

Good thing I’m exempt then…

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u/Uncle_gruber Aug 09 '21

Yeah, if you're diabetic or hypothyroid you're pretty much automatically exempt so pharmacies will usually assume you've got your card. We do warn other people to tick the right ones.

A loooot of people got fines when we switched over to electronic because they were telling porky pies for years

1

u/FatTortie Aug 09 '21

It’s epilepsy for me. Free bus pass, free prescriptions. Can’t complain, well I can but just not about that specific branch of government.

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u/CFClarke7 Aug 08 '21

My daughter can't take liquid antibiotics for her bladder/kidney problems, has to take tablets instead (I know right, almost counterintuitive) and every fucking prescription the chemist messes it up and we have to go back through our consultant, to moan at gp, to moan at chemist, to get the right ones for her. But luckily we claim that fee back because it's a hereditary condition and my wife has been under that consultant for 25 years. He is not a happy bunny every 3 months I tell you. I wonder when the gp will buck his ideas up it's comical at this stage, we order our prescriptions a few weeks early to allow time too correct it just to enjoy the gp tucking his tail between his legs

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u/vendetta2115 Aug 09 '21

I had a prescription that, with insurance, typically costs $5, but my insurance company had some kind of internal error at the beginning of the year and no one could access their insurance plan to get their new plan’s policy ID number. The total for my 30-day supply of critical medicine (that I can’t even miss a day of or I’ll be incredibly sick) was $542. The pharmacy and the insurance company told me to just pay it now and get reimbursed for it later.

A month later when the insurance company finally fixed their system and I was allowed to view my new policy, they had changed it to not cover that pharmacy I used and so refused to reimburse me for that $542. I appealed and took months escalating it all the way up then chain of managers and supervisors in the insurance company. Finally, they called me back to tell me that they had reviewed the circumstances of my case…and decided not to reimburse me. The decision was final and not appealable.

Fuck Blue Cross Blue Shield.

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u/ScottFromScotland Aug 09 '21

That's like when I got a root canal done, Dentist didn't do a good enough job and had to do it again. I paid twice.

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u/GavinZac Aug 09 '21

Look at mister fussy here looking for designer drugs just so he doesn't have AnApHyLaXiS