Putting the screws to the little guy...

Ok, this stuff just does not work. Whether it is the need for a larger dose or the fact that it just is not going to work, I am not sure. I decided that I will call the doc today and not wait the month as this is not comfortable at all. I am sure that my PCP is going to say he cannot do much more but I can say right now that unless we do something about this all the work we accomplished with the oxy is going to go right down the tubes and I will be right back where I was 2 months ago, broken and in a recliner all day.

I also did some more research on this yesterday and have to say that I could find nothing that offered any evidence to support that claim. I know he is the learned doctor, but they are human and therefore are fallible. Not that he is wrong mind you just that it is possible to allow yourself to be swayed to one side of an argument without any empirical evidence. Kind of like the Bud Light drinkers of the world who refuse to try anything else, no matter how much better it might be.

I am not willing to give up on this med just yet, just saying that I think the dose might be on the lower side of what I need. I just called and left a message to have the doc call me when they have a chance and see what they say. My other beef with this med is that they prescribed it by brand name, my co-pay for brand name is 7 times more then generic and 4 times more for preferred then generic. Top that off with the fact that as of March 1st the big guy is going to screw the little guy AGAIN!!!

We have Cigna and just got a letter stating they are going to raise our premiums (13%) as well as all the co-pays & deductibles. Meds will go from 5/20/35 to 10/30/40 and deductibles are going from $1000 per person annually and $2500 per family to $2500/$4000 and the standard doctors visit is going from $15 to $30. Our only saving grace is that my wife's employer has a workforce of close to 30,000 employees making premiums more affordable then most companies. Certainly cheaper then when we had BC/BS from he former employer or the policy we had through my company.

I guess I should also add that CIGNA did $18.8 Billion in sales last year and had a net income of $668 million. While this shows a net income decline of 2.8% from 2003 it is still income. With that in mind they employed 32,700 people on 2004 which is a decline of over 20% from 2003. So they axe 20% of their staff while still well on the positive side of the income line and then raise premiums and lower services offered (I am not even going to say what they will no longer cover under our policy). Yup, that seems like the way to keep your policy holders renewing their policies.

This is not just the insurance company though, the corporations are going to have to take some of this blame. While they had a 20% increase in sales and 13% increase in net income, they are going to be paying less of the premiums for their management. When they hired my wife part of the package she signed was that the company would pay 50% of all her premiums on medical/dental/vision. The letter telling us about the increase for us also said that the company will be lowering their share of the premium. So basically your reward for helping the company increase sales and income you get the short end of the stick and they take away some of the benefits you signed on for.

I am not trying to be greedy by any means and say they should pay for this or that, only what they promised to pay. I am sure that if their staff said "you know, I told you I would give you 50 hours a week for this salary but I am only going to work 40" they would can your ass in a heartbeat. Yet the same document that said you would work those hours outlined their promise to you and they get to renege. Just seems a little disjointed to me.