Co-pay???
BobJudy
Member Posts: 6,630 ✭✭✭✭
I've mentioned on here before that I take Humira. Between Medicare and Blue Cross, my copay is $5.00. If not for the insurance I definitely wouldn't be using this med because a years supply of the weekly dosages would cost me $170,000! I just got off the phone ordering a refill, which is a bit of a pain, and after the young lady got done with her 47 questions and obligatory warnings and cautions, she proudly told me that my copay was the same $5.00 that it has been the last 3 years and they would charge it to my on file credit card.
Sorry for all the rambling, but my question is - why do insurance companies insist on what amounts to a token co-pay? Why does one more entity need to have my credit card info? Wouldn't it be simpler to just raise my insurance payments $5.00 and do away with the co-pay? One less bit of paper (computer) work for the vender and one less thing for me to keep track of.
I am super thankful that they cover the prescription and I only end up paying $130/yr instead of $170,000 but the token co-pay system seems so inefficient. Anyone know why co-pays like that exist? If it was a couple of hundred I guess I would understand, but 5 lousy bucks? Bob
Comments
So they can prove to the government that they are helping reduce the cost to those that qualify, it's all bee eSe so they can charge the ridicules amounts to those who's insurance will pay full price! and I tried the Humira for free through there program for free, but it didn't help me. be grateful that it works for you and you only pay 5 bucks!
Your lucky. Insulin cost me out of pocket $800.00 every 6 months.
Margaret Thatcher
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
Mark Twain
Another question along the same line.
Had a nuke stress test and sonogram on the ole ticker about a month ago, bill was almost 12,000.00.
Insurance paid 1,800.00, my cost 0. Must be for a tax write off or something.
Medical facilities pay little if any taxes. They way over charge for treatment, then accept the far lower amount insurance will pay, then claim the difference as a loss.
Glad it's working out
I guess as long as there paying as in we. All will pay in the long run
And I have thought the same thing about co pay when it's just a few dollars
But as mentioned insurance company's will negotiate cost way below what a average person Could do
I had a friend worked in billing at a local hospital countless people would not or could not pay the bill her supervisor said something like try thee times to collect then just let it go
My guess its then just written off
But then again why a aspirin cost ten dollars when your in the hospital
Just a after thought I was my pain doctor last week she said her husband is not long for the world poor fellow has a bad heart like 9 percent working and too risky to operate on colon cancer he also developed on hospice now
We talked about drug company's and cost she just 3 of his drugs were 600.00 to 1200.00 Each time around
The $5 goes towards the phone jokey pay. Figure 6 customers an hour (unless they have to deal with some knucklehead on the line) they get $15 an hour.
It's a systems design thing.
Your "insurance company" may be doing business under 500 names, with contracts for multiple states, employers or government agencies. Some policy holders may have nominal co-pays (& deductibles), others have to pay a lot more. The data processing department can use the same software for all their "companies", just vary the amount depending upon what benefits the customer wants.
Neal
That makes as much sense as anything I guess. It just seems that the credit card billing charges, processing labor and the snail mail notice they send me to confirm they billed the $5 to the credit card must use up most if not all of the co-pay. So it appears to be a losing proposition on their part. Bob
Since Government prevented itself from negotiating Medicare drug prices we all pay through the nose for them. I take Jardiance and Trulicity. They cost over a grand a month, paid by my insurance. I pay twenty bucks. Metformin is five bucks for a 90 day supply. Drug companies invest a lot of money into R&D but they sure make it back when a drug hits the market. The medical/Legal system in the USA is busted. Drugs in Canada are much cheaper yet illegal to buy for a US Citizen.