Will Someone Please Pay for my Rubbers

[Conan71]

Ok, I'll tell the women I know that take BCP for medical reasons other than birth control that you said they should take responsibility for themselves and not expect other people to pay for their medicine. It's like you think that because it has something to do with lady parts that it's inherently about sex.

I bow to your superior intellect.

Arguments from authority are always good ones. Especially when the authority you claim has love all to do with the point at hand, which was actuarial, not sales-related.

Doesn't matter if it's for birth control, acne, or making sure Aunt Flo shows up at the same time every month.  Why is $30 to $50 a month such a hardship for people?  I don't expect someone else to pay for my maintenance meds (which these days are nothing more than ibuprofen or Benadryl.)  Insurance has become so expensive because it's being used as a buyer's club instead of what it was originally supposed to do and that was to cover major issues.  I don't have a problem with insurance paying for chemo or expensive life-saving or life-enhancing therapies.  It should do that.  I simply don't see a good reason for people to expect it to pay for BC, sniffle pills, or ED pills.

Uh, what you posted isn't a difficult actuarial concept. 

[Conan71]

One would hurt more than the other.

(A little late but I thought I'd throw that out there.)

Depends on the point of contact.  Falling on the head or getting the pineapple treatment? (Little Nicky reference)

[nathanm]

Doesn't matter if it's for birth control, acne, or making sure Aunt Flo shows up at the same time every month.  Why is $30 to $50 a month such a hardship for people?  I don't expect someone else to pay for my maintenance meds (which these days are nothing more than ibuprofen or Benadryl.)  Insurance has become so expensive because it's being used as a buyer's club instead of what it was originally supposed to do and that was to cover major issues.  I don't have a problem with insurance paying for chemo or expensive life-saving or life-enhancing therapies.  It should do that.  I simply don't see a good reason for people to expect it to pay for BC, sniffle pills, or ED pills.

You're free to choose a health insurance product without prescription drug coverage. FWIW, I don't really have a problem with it not covering certain classes of medication. I do have a problem with companies covering boner pills and not covering BCP. That's blatantly discriminatory. I think it would be great if the drug companies would stop price gouging us so maintenance meds wouldn't be bankruptingly expensive when still-under-patent drugs are medically required.

Uh, what you posted isn't a difficult actuarial concept. 

I didn't say it was difficult, I said it has nothing to do with sales.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Why is $30 to $50 a month such a hardship for people? 

And from that, we can tell how long it has been since you worked for $12 an hour....  LONG time!

[Conan71]

And from that, we can tell how long it has been since you worked for $12 an hour....  LONG time!

I still prioritize my spending, though as any responsible adult should, regardless of income.

[Conan71]

I think it would be great if the drug companies would stop price gouging us so maintenance meds wouldn't be bankruptingly expensive when still-under-patent drugs are medically required.

On that you and I can agree.  It's obvious that either US consumers are subsidizing drug costs for the rest of the world, or drug companies blatantly rip us off.  If scrip plans and the gov't are the biggest payment sources to them though you would think they could pressure prices much lower, but that's not happening.

[guido911]

guido, you still labor under the impression that BCP is used only for contraception?

Nate is in full backpedal mode now. AGAIN! 

Sandra Fluke has been wanting to screw and have others pay to avoid the horrible consequence of child birth. That's the debate. And in the future, please try and remember that my medical background is just a wee bit better than yours. So hip pocket your lectures about medical uses of BC.

[heironymouspasparagus]

I still prioritize my spending, though as any responsible adult should, regardless of income.

The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.

[nathanm]

If scrip plans and the gov't are the biggest payment sources to them though you would think they could pressure prices much lower, but that's not happening.

It's been a while since I've looked at an EOB, but I'm pretty sure that the copay+insurance reimbursement is significantly lower than the cash price. Medicare, sadly, is not allowed to negotiate prices under Part D. That's what happens when you have a revolving door between the legislature and drug company lobbying organizations.

VA is allowed to negotiate pricing and pays about half what Medicare does under Part D.

[Conan71]

It's been a while since I've looked at an EOB, but I'm pretty sure that the copay+insurance reimbursement is significantly lower than the cash price. Medicare, sadly, is not allowed to negotiate prices under Part D. That's what happens when you have a revolving door between the legislature and drug company lobbying organizations.

VA is allowed to negotiate pricing and pays about half what Medicare does under Part D.

Like TSA, another Bush bone-headed move.

[nathanm]

Like TSA, another Bush bone-headed move.

Better to blame Billy Tauzin, the Louisiana Representative who put that turd in the bill and shortly thereafter ended up working for PhRMA. Sometimes I think there ought to be a mandatory waiting period or something.

[Hoss]

Better to blame Billy Tauzin, the Louisiana Representative who put that turd in the bill and shortly thereafter ended up working for PhRMA. Sometimes I think there ought to be a mandatory waiting period or something.

I think they should boot ALL special interest groups off K Street.  I know..wishful thinking.

It sure would make for a pleasant reset of the current swill of law-makers inside the beltway.  Maybe they could actually get back to..oh, I don't know...legislating?

[TulsaRufnex]

23 pages of posts about female birth control....
1 post by a female... priceless.





"Republicans are against abortion until their daughters need one, Democrats are for abortion until their daughter wants one."

[nathanm]

I think they should boot ALL special interest groups off K Street.  I know..wishful thinking.

I agree, but I think the strange view of the first amendment (strange in that it's expansive when politically expedient, but not expansive when that is politically expedient) the present Supreme Court has might make that difficult. Better to come at it from the other end if you want restrictions to stand up in court. Rather than restricting the lobbyists, restrict the Congresspeople.

I know..fat freakin' chance that a majority of Congress would vote away their big payday.

[Townsend]

OB-GYNs Say No Prescription Should Be Needed To Get The Pill

http://kwgs.com/post/ob-gyns-say-no-prescription-should-be-needed-get-pill

The time has come for the pill to be available over-the-counter, the nation's leading group of obstetricians and gynecologists says.

Why? "There's a 50 percent unintended pregnancy rate in the U.S., which is extremely high for a resource-rich country," says Dr. James T. Breeden, president of the American Congress of Obstetrician and Gynecologists. Easier access to oral contraceptives could go a long way to bringing that number down, he tells Shots.

The argument for the switch was just published in an ACOG policy statement. But don't expect to see the pill next to acetaminophen or cough syrup on drugstore shelves anytime soon.

The Food and Drug Administration would have to agree that the benefits to women outweigh the risks from taking the pill without a health professional's guidance.

The feds have approved switches for some allergy pills, heartburn medicines and even allowed nonprescription sales of the emergency contraceptive Plan B to adults. But the FDA has rejected the switch of some common cholesterol drugs called statins to OTC sale.

The clearest path to nonprescription status the pill would be for a drugmaker to push the case with the agency. ACOG would support a move like that, Breeden says, but it's not the group's place to lead the commercial charge.

What are the risks? The biggest worry is blood clots. They're rare, but the risk rises for women who smoke or are over 35. Uncontrolled high blood pressure would also boost the risk for trouble. But, Breeden says, "It is much worse to have a women who is hypertensive be pregnant that to be on birth control pills."

It's also possible that women would skip some visits to their doctors.

Other over-the-counter medicines also carry risks, though. Aspirin can lead to serious bleeding problems, and overdoses of acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol) are a leading cause of liver failure.

Breeden is confident women could adequately screen themselves before deciding to start oral contraceptives. They might even do a better job than doctors at that, he says.

"All in all, it would be a major benefit" for women to be able to buy the pill prescription free, he says.