Same Day Part Dos
In my last entry (a few minutes ago) I spoke of being argued out. Here's why. (Oh goody, just now one of the cats barfed. I TOLD YOU IT WAS A DAY). Cat barf isn't the issue though. Insurance companies are.
Principal Financial is, I'm pretty sure, the largest employer in Des Moines. They are huge. They operate a bank, investment office, property holdings, life insurance, health insurance companies. There was an article in the paper a bit ago that talked about how their CEO earns $16 MILLION annually but still has tons of time to spend on the golf course.
Lucky me. They are the health insurer for my agency. Ryann needs to begin Lupron shots ASAP because even though she's 8 she has a bone age of 12, boobs, hair in all the wrong places for an 8 year old. Dr. says she needs the shots. Principal initially said 'no'. Doc fought it. They said 'yes'. Today I call to get the details set up and they tell me my copay will only be $271 each month. She has secondary insurance---Medicaid (b/c of her special needs) but Principal won't work w/Medicaid. I ask Principal what do I do and they said, "you'll have to pay the copay". Impossible I say. Unethical when your CEO makes more money in a year than this prescription could cost in a lifetime (or at least for the next couple of years as long as she'll need it) I say. Obviously this wasn't the first time this customer service dude had heard that b/c he said, "Yeah, I wish some of that trickled down". Anyway, I then called Medicaid and they helped me work it out BUT it literally was a whole day on the phone doing this. I AM thankful that I have health insurance that my employer foots the bulk of the premium cost of, health insurance that costs my employer and myself over $1000 per month for my family alone. But it is this kind of injustice that makes me want to throttle someone:
*An exec who loves to golf earning $16K---no one, no celebrity, no sports star, no doctor, no CEO EARNS that much or is worth that much. They are simply subsidized and very, very lucky.
*Said health insurance doesn't bat an eye at covering Levitra, Cialis and all those other drugs to benefit men but yet they quibble over a medication to help a little girl hold off on the trauma of monthly periods not to mention sexually looking like a 16 year old when she is 8.
Health insurance, in my opinion, is a basic human right. I know there are problems with socialized medicine but there are also huge problems when someone can get rich (and not just a couple hundred thousand/year rich but RICH) off the backs of the average middle class sort of person. Where is the common sense in this? I don't know if that CEO has any sort of religious base but to me this doesn't matter because even if he doesn't, how can he even begin to feel like a decent human being knowing there are people struggling to pay premiums, copays and overall medical bills when he alone, could probably pay all of these for about 100 people without even missing the money!?!?! Kinda reminds me of the bibical story of the Tax Collectors. J. Barry Griswell is, without a doubt, a modern day tax collector. J. Barry (or can I just call you J?) remember, to whom much is given, much is expected.
