As you may know, I am not trying to have a child right now. This does mean that I use birth control. The problem with this is that I use a name brand birth control that costs $90-$120 for one month if I try to buy it without insurance (Nuva Ring). On my old insurance, it was $75 for 3 months through Medco. With my new insurance, I wasn’t sure what I was getting into.
No Paperwork
I don’t know if we just never received our insurance and prescription cards or if we ate them or something, but I could not find an insurance card or any information in my house. This meant that I had to call the benefits line of my husband’s school district to find out where I’d need to start just to get the info I needed to see a doctor or order prescriptions.
That nice lady gave me the info for Aetna and CareMark. The Aetna rep explained our plan to me and showed me how to go online to get all of the details I needed about the HealthCare Fund that is used to help us cover our deductible. We apparently have $1237 in there already, yay! That means we would only be on the hook for $1200-$3500 of expenses no matter what happens this year. If we don’t use it, it will also roll over. Double yay! But Aetna couldn’t help me with my prescription, so I called Caremark.
The New Price
Caremark explained that I could pick up a 3 month supply of my birth control directly from my CVS, but it will be $175. OUCH!!! I went from $300 a year to $700 a year by becoming self employed. BUT, I also went from netting $2000 a month to netting $6000 on average a month so far, so I will stop b*tching whining. Plus, $60 a month is better than $90 a month.
I know at this point that a bunch of people may be yelling at their monitor that I should use a cheaper birth control, like the pill, for $10 a month. Or I may have some people yelling at me to suck it up and get pregnant. But I do not stay on a regular enough schedule to trust myself to take a pill at the same time every day and I do not want a baby as of yet.
So, nearly 3 hours since I started on my task to become more enlightened about our insurance, I have successfully figured out how to go to the doctor and get prescriptions filled. I also have real insurance cards being delivered to our house and printed off temporary ones in the meantime. I also have the benefits site URL for future use and research. Finally, I have the login info to check on our HealthFund balance whenever I want. Yay, it was a productive, if annoying, 3 hours.
Why does insurance need to be so complicated? Why did I have to call 3 different people to find out about two things? Why did I put off learning about our new plan for 2 1/2 months? Do you ever feel like this?
I sincerely wish there were a way to simplify insurance benefits, and make them much easier to understand. It seems every few months I have a breakdown because some new issue comes up with my insurance company and I also, have to spend hours on the phone or the internet trying to figure out the answer to my problem.
Insurance companies in general have terrible customer service, and expect you to do everything yourself.
One thing to note: You can ask your ob/gyn for a free sample of your birth control. They usually have plenty to give away from the drug reps. That can save you a least one month’s worth of money.
Your answer is as good as mine on why insurance is so complicated. I guess when big business in involved with health care there will be some red tape. As for putting of learning the plan for 2.5 months. It simply wasn’t important to you. We all feel like this at times, no worries.
Well, birth control will supposedly be “free” in 2012 due to a federal mandate that health insurers pay the full cost:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/01/us-usa-health-preventive-idUSTRE7703C420110801
I’m not a fan of the mandate for a multitude of reasons, but it may save you some money in a year or so.
Maybe it’s just me, but I think my insurance company has a super smooth process. I think they could make billing easier, since dentists, various doctors and such all send out an estimate and then a bill like a week apart. Seems a little redundant.
It really is no fun dealing with insurers, unless they tell you how to save a bunch of money. Trust me when I say that children are more expensive than birth control pills. Of course having children is not not purely an economic decision, worth noting though.
Insurance loves to be complicated. I love this time of year because I Have to pour over all the benefits documents and make choices, knowing that odds are I wont ever use any of the money.
Is it a conspiracy? Insurance, particularly medical insurance like to keep it conplicated so you will use less of it.
I have no idea why insurance is so complicated. I’m learning about it in school right now and it’s driving me crazy. For my b/c, it’s all covered under our provincial health insurance (I’m Canadian), and since I’m covered under both my mom and dad, I have never paid anything for b/c the whole 3ish years I’ve been using it, a good plus I guess.
It’s nuts. I hate dealing with husband’s company. They reject (or just ignore!) things on a whim. Glad you persevered..
@MoneyforCollegePro, I was actually surprised at how nice the reps were even if I did have to spend a few hours tracking down all of the info…we’ll see if they are as helpful when I have a real problem, lol.
@K, good suggestion, but I went to most of this trouble to avoid going to my doctor, lol. I actually thought about switching to the pill, but the mandatory doctor visit made me change my mind to stay with what I have.
@YFS, so true…it wasn’t a priority until I needed a no-baby med refill…
@Amanda, huh, we’ll see. Thanks for the heads up!
@Jenna, so redundant and that seems to be the norm.
@Hunter, hahaha, I don’t know if we’ll ever want kids, but we know it isn’t a decision to be based on money, lol.
@Jeff, ah, yes, open enrollment periods. I think my husband’s starts next month. So much fun *heavy sarcasm*…
@krantcents, then they haven’t met me, lol. If I am sick, I am going to a doctor. I am a big weenie…
@Kayla, good luck figuring it all out in the future – but yes, it does seem easier in Canada…
@Cat, it takes persistence for sure. Good luck!
I used to get Nuva ring through the mail (one of those websites that sends you meds) for 30% less than the cost at the pharmacy. (Since it has to be kept cold, they used to send them to me in giant styrofoam coolers–I think my neighbors thought I was involved in organ trading!) You should check it out.
That’s outrageous for birth control. Insurance is supposed to cover things but now they are trying more and more to weasel out of paying for anything. I think it will lead many people to try and find alternative ways to get health care.
[...] BIFS presents Dealing with Insurance Stuff posted at Budgeting In the Fun Stuff, saying, “On my old insurance, birth control was $75 for 3 months through Medco. With my new insurance, I wasn’t sure what I was getting into.” [...]
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[...] That’s no excuse to take advantage of your customers, though.”OtherBIFS presents Dealing with Insurance Stuff posted at Budgeting In the Fun Stuff, saying, “On my old insurance, birth control was $75 [...]