I understand money influencing medical decisions all too well. My insurance isn't nearly as good as Lisa's, so I'm still trying to pay off Remicade treatments that stopped working for me last spring. Right now I'm on Plaquenil and Sulfasalazine (or their generic equivalents) and am thrilled to be only paying my $5 copay per refill. Never mind that they make me nauseous and I'm not sure they're working, I really, really want them to work until spring when I'm done paying off the last pricy biologic and am ready to pay for the next one.
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first, I'm glad to hear that your heart is healthy!
your rheumatologist being upset about you not seeking treatment when you're in a flare makes sense on one level. Of course you should do everything you can to stay as healthy as possible. However, when that treatment will cost you a lot of money, sometimes you have no choice. Earlier this month, I was a spokesperson for the Health Council of Canada related to the release of their report on how people with chronic illness rate the health care system. The report was fascinating - they found that up to a quarter of Canadians who have chronic illnesses had skipped doses of medication or not filled prescriptions due to cost concerns. There were a number of spokespeople, each with their own focus and mine was the finances. I am very lucky - thanks to a financial assistance program offered by the provincial government, I get a lot of my medications covered, including Humira. I pay a quarterly deductible based on my income. However, there are a number of medications that are not covered or only covered in generic form and regardless of what they'd like you to believe, generic is not the same as brand-name. Therefore, I'm in the situation where I either jeopardize my health or I find a way to pay for it. Subsequently, I carry a lot of debt.
personally, I think it's a disgrace that people have to choose between paying the rent and treating their illness. On top of that, I think it's shortsighted from a societal point of view - if the disease doesn't get treated, you end up needing much more medical care and therefore being more of a drain on the system. Affordable medication is an investment.
I'll get off the soapbox now. Thanks for writing this post - it's an important issue that needs to be discussed more.
I nave never before been in a position of having to choose, but now because our state drug assistance program is not going to cover us until we go through the "donut hole" it has become a major issue for me (and others). I am looking at which parts of my drug cocktails I can safely dispense with--maybe Plaquenil, Lidocaine patches, probably sleeping pills, :( and definitely go back to coumadin instead of Pradaxa which costs three times as much. I can't go off any of my heart drugs, and don't dare go off Enbrel, although I have lengthened the time between doses. At least I don't have to choose between eating and feeling less pain, as many will have to. It sucks!
that you have to potentially compromise your health this way is completely unreasonable. Makes me so mad I could spit!