THE DONUT HOLE
October 15, 2008
I just don’t have an extra $1,200 in this year’s budget; that is what it will cost me extra out of pocket for Rx’s now that I am in the Medicare Rx donut hole , I still pay my monthly Blue Cross and Medicare payments, it is just that this is additional.
It took me a fair while to find that Cymbalta is the right drug for my fibromyalgia (30 years), and that it does great things for my mood disorders as well; now comes the decision that I have to believe many people are faced with making: Do I take less medicine? Do I search for a foreign source that might be problematic? Do I search for something generic that just might do the job? I just don’t have an extra $1,200 in this year’s budget: I still work and receive Social Security, I live on a pretty tight budget, one that was right for me until I was admitted to hospital with heart failure and then discovered that damned donut hole in my path.
Of course I had heard of it, and didn’t think that I would come anywhere near it, until I was admitted to hospital and then was off work for a few weeks. The surprise and shock of exploring for alternatives is something I could do without.
It is not that I am asking for disability or charity, I am not, I plan to continue working for a long time yet, it is just that my resources are less, that is why my budget is less. Something about this situation strikes me as not being right, that it is a bigger problem than was obvious; perhaps older people don’t post as many weblog comments and complaints, perhaps many of them are tired and have given up much as long term unemployed often give up. I don’t know why there isn’t more disturbance about this, maybe we have been living under conservative rule for too long and learned their lesson of not talking about things that disturb us. Anyway this is something I want others to be aware of more than we all are; this kind of decision is not the kind I want to be making at this point in life, I have other things about to be concerned.
I don’t know if my complaint comes from the right or the left, I tend to think it is neither, it is an aspect of conditions here and now, one that needs to be addressed.
October 25, 2008 at 5:49 p. 10.
Good God roger, I had to ask my s/o about the donut, which he is well aware of since he is older than me. I get it all confused because my Mother is on aid and the medicine is all paid for. Now I know why you are a tad upset. this is all very ridiculous and was managed to get in by the drug companies and not government. Today in our lives ain’t easy. Your problem, as with all other medicare recipients, is that you have been stuck to it for name drugs. I am sorry to hear you are in this predicament and I agree you need the medication………Maybe you should consider alternatives if they are possible…..I am not going to write that here……..email me if you want me to continue. My best to you Roger–take it easy! Frank
June 9, 2009 at 5:49 p. 06.
Cymbalta is the drug I am taking now, but will be on Medicare in the next couple weeks. I am very afraid that I will reach the “donut hole” within 5 months. The full retail price goes toward the $2700 dollar amount then I pay retail which for me is $450 per month. Any suggestions as to what i can do?
June 9, 2009 at 5:49 p. 06.
Hello Bill:
For my fibromyalgia and my mood Cymbalta works better than anything, I have been on it for almost a year and still rank it highly.
Here is what I did last year and will attempt again this year when I reach the doughnut hole:
First I let the doc know, for several reasons it is not good to keep this situation from him, I told him that I would be cutting back on my dosage and wanted him to know that, he wasn’t pleased because if he had thought a lesser dose would do I would have been on it. For similar reasons I let the pharmacy know that I was against the wall on this thing and may start partial dosage. Both the pharmacy and the doc advised strongly against getting foreign substitute, there are unscrupulous people out there waiting for those of us in need, don’t jeopardize myself by buying off brands.
Bill, I won’t be specific about whom and when, but I managed to get enough samples to carry me through to the next budget year. This year will be more difficult to do that because I am on eight other meds now due to a heart situation.
The third thing I did was write about this, let people hear our stories, let them try to understand what this damned rule is doing to us. It is only with pressure can we even hope to make a change; what I do won’t change anything, what you might do won’t change anything—but we can’t be silent, what millions of us can do will be something. I don’t know how old you are but I am 70, I notice that few older or needy people are explaining their situations; not to whine or beg, none of us want that, just let others know who might be in a similar situation, who might go from whining to being pissed off at having to find an extra $400 a month in our budgets.
Bill, spread the word, show others so that they may join us.
Regards: Roger