Sick economy has patients skimping on meds

Yes, I quit filling one of my blood pressure medications because of the out-of-pocket expense for it.  And I've put off taking the kids to the doctor until I'm really sure they have to go.

I'm already making monthly payments on the bills for an emergency room visit earlier this year - we can't afford another one.

Yes. I suffer from sever depression.  I happen to be difficult to treat - I have bad reactions to many medications and don't respond at all to others.  I am currently on Lexapro which works but has no generic.  And my prescribed dose is 30 mg daily - but my insurance (apparently they know more then a doctor) will only allow up to a 20 mg per day supply.  So I can either fill it at 20/day for $35.00 a month (a ridiculous cost but hey at least I still have insurance) and take less then I need which wll probably have the affect of a longer treatment time and a more likely relapse or pay over $100.00 a month to get what I need.

Unfortunately I have to take the lower dose and hope like hell I don't relapse.

Because I have no health insurance after loosing my job in May, I have cut back on insulin because the cost is $184 for a month's supply.  I have cut dosage to 75% of what I was taking. 

Dixie, please do not cut your insulin. Go by your local health department, they can give you information as to where you can get assistance. Call your local welfare office. Talk to you pastor at church. Do not mess with your insulin dosage without talking to your doctor first.

I am on Social Security Disability and 100% disabled and my Medicaid started March 2008 but I thought I was covered for my other health problems and I had a heart attack in April 2008 I spent almost 3 days in ICU and about 3 or 4 more days in the hospital  and when I got out I found out they took me off Medicaid the last day of March 2008 and would they would put me on Medicare September 2008.

I called and asked when did they take me off Medicaid and why they gave me no notice about taking me off Medicaid I was told sometimes they let people know they have no coverage and sometimes the do not. So since my heart attack I have only been able to buy my heart medicines in May and after that I had to quit buying my heart medicines. I still have chest pains but theres nothing I can do but hope I don't have another heart attack again.

I have called and called and still can't get help for my meds and after I got out of the hospital I had to miss all my doctor appointments because I can't pay so I live with daily fear of having another heart attack because the heart attack I had did kill me and they brought me back 2 times.

Of course we've cut back on medical expenses - like everything else.  There's no more money coming in and expenses keep going up.  We hoped to get caught up when gas prices started going down, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.  Maybe when we can retire and get Medicare we can get some medical care (Ha, Ha, Ha).  The only ones who can really afford medical care are the fat cats with golden parachutes and the government employees.

Yes we have. I have a special needs daughter who requires a tremendous amount of medical care. For example I am paying down a large balance for major surgery she had July 2007. Between the physicians bill & hospital facility charge, I am paying $300 per month. Additionally she requires constant medical attention which has already exceeded the company benefit plan, so I am paying for additional testing, re-ocurring prescription medicinal costs for her as well as myself , physician visits (both pediatrician as well as bevy of specialists). She required a pair of leg braces which I have to pay for out of pocket($3600 & I am going to pay them $100/month on top of the $1000 down I gave them). The company I work for severely downgraded their company health care plan about 2 years ago, and it has hit my family extremely hard. However I do refuse to skimp 1 inch on my children's healthcare. Personally my doctor recommends a bone density test for me as a precautionary because I have been taking Nexium for 8 years and data shows potential issues with long term use. I however am going to skip this test due to the financial cost. My dentist is trying to get me in for a cleaning & checkup and I am scheduled, but I am going to cancel; I don't want him to "find" anything that I won't be able to pay for. So we will brush twice daily, floss and hope for the best. My Barretts condition warrants an annual exam & biopsy which I will continue to follow up with. Otherwise I am fortunate to be working, however the future does look grim thru my eyes.

I have lived this non-medical lifestyle for many years.  I have no insurance and make very little money.  I have a file folder full of prescriptions I've never had filled.  If I get sick, I treat myself using over the counter meds.  If I get REALLY sick, I'll go to the emergency room.  That is, if I've got the gas money to get there. 

I have what is considered "very good" insurance through my employer (local government) but premiums increased in Sept and will increase again in Dec and we are likely to see co-pays and deductibles increase at that time as well.  I have asthma, diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure and the medications are still nearly $200 a month in co-pays alone.  seeing the doctor for the needed tests......plus gas money to get  there! Unreal! Right now our plan year was extended so am having some tests run that I had been putting off because of the cost........a major surgery in the beginning of the plan year put me at the max out of pocket level for the year but still have over $20,000. in unpaid medical bills from that.  My income has not gone up but my out go has nearly doubled in the past 6 months.  Our utilities went up from 10 to 20%, gasoline is still over $3. a gal here. and food bills about kill the budget.  It is hard to make balanced diabetic low fat and salt free meals when the price of the ingredients is triple the cost of 6 months ago.

Yes we have. I have a special needs daughter who requires a tremendous amount of medical care. For example I am paying down a large balance for major surgery she had July 2007. Between the physicians bill & hospital facility charge, I am paying $300 per month. Additionally she requires constant medical attention which has already exceeded the company benefit plan, so I am paying for additional testing, re-ocurring prescription medicinal costs for her as well as myself , physician visits (both pediatrician as well as bevy of specialists). She required a pair of leg braces which I have to pay for out of pocket($3600 & I am going to pay them $100/month on top of the $1000 down I gave them). The company I work for severely downgraded their company health care plan about 2 years ago, and it has hit my family extremely hard. However I do refuse to skimp 1 inch on my children's healthcare. Personally my doctor recommends a bone density test for me as a precautionary because I have been taking Nexium for 8 years and data shows potential issues with long term use. I however am going to skip this test due to the financial cost. My dentist is trying to get me in for a cleaning & checkup and I am scheduled, but I am going to cancel; I don't want him to "find" anything that I won't be able to pay for. So we will brush twice daily, floss and hope for the best. My Barretts condition warrants an annual exam & biopsy which I will continue to follow up with. Otherwise I am fortunate to be working, however the future does look grim thru my eyes.

Hey, in my neck of the woods all you have to do is not have a wallet, walk into the emergency and act all disoriented and make sure you speaka no Englisha.   Free health care!

I will be cutting my diabete medicine and not taking everyday because they have gone up 30.00 pre medicine and I have insurance and with all my husband's medicine I can't get it all.

I lost my job in July, in Michigan, and am on COBRA insurance.  Money is getting tight and the payments for COBRA are $500 per month, so I'll have to end that soon.  When that goes all of my meds go too, including my high blood pressure meds.

I just want to say I could not resent the bailout any more than I do.  And I believe GWB to be the anti-christ.

My Husband and I are both self employed, he as a cabinetmaker/contractor and myself as a furniture repair and refinisher...after 30 years we had to shut our shop. Wed love to have health insurance but were also rather fond of eating and staying warm. My husband had to forego a stress test because when I called to make the appointment I was told it would cost $5000. of which they had to have $3000. up front (we could pay off the rest @ $100. amonth plus interest of course). We are already paying off an emergency room visit for a nail in hubbys foot, that was $10,000. Me? I must take 2 meds everyday for the rest of my life, luckily they are both generics. I have 2 other meds I have open prescriptions for but only need them occasionally...one of the two is filled 6 (yes SIX) tablets at a time because of cost. I see Im far from alone.

I am 55 year old woman: long story, short version- husband cheated, divorced me, lost medical insurance, security for old age, no job experience, only found a job I could do after nearly two years. I can't work full-time because of health problems. Even if I could work full-time, couldn't afford the premiums for the insurance offered thru my company. All my pay, plus the monthly pension allowance from my ex that was granted in the divorce goes to paying my rent, utilities and to buy things I need that food stamps will not pay for, like gas and reapirs on the 1986 auto which gets me back and forth to work and the grocery store. My state is the pits for helping any woman who is not unwed and pregnant or who hasn't a house full of kids. I have been turned down many times because I am not promiscuos, and am past childbearing years. I finally got help thru my state paying for my prescriptions that I take daily for my conditions, I am allowed 5 rx's per month at $3 each which I thank God for the help thru my state but it is getting worse everywhere and I don't see any light at the end of my personal dark tunnel. I make monthly payments for bi-annual checkups from my doctor whom I have seen for many years and he understands my financial plight. However I can no longer afford the high cost of blood work so have stopped taking my cholesterol medicine, which was too costly to pay for anyway.

I had emergency surgery for gall bladder removal this past January, at the time I was not working, had no income and was living off my credit card to keep from being thrown out on the streets or going hungry. The state in it's infinite wisdom, said I could pay the bills for my surgery and now I am preparing to file bankruptcy. I don't know what else to do. With bills totalling over $20,000 I have no other recourse.

My simple, yet morbid, plan is this. The next time I get sick, I will just sit here at my little apartment and die. Someone will eventually find me and all my paperwork is in order with instructions for my burial and the distribution of what little furniture and clothing I own. I will never again go thru the humiliating and embarrassing circumstances again that I am going thru now.   

I read this and had to pinch myself: poor people cutting back on health is news?  Poor people have always had to cut back on health care.  They are poor.  This is not new. The better article would have been why we continue to have a system where poor people have to choose between medicine and rent or food and the people who were responsible for banks failing are geting huge bonuses. They won't be cutting back on health care.  This was going on before the recent economic downturn. It is not news. 

Yes. I am on Social Security Disability, cannot drive and have been denied services at our local hospital. My asthma and joint pain gets so bad sometimes I sleep for a few hours a day. I cannot afford dental, medication, eye exams, and now they want me to do a physical and colonoscopy. The doctors have even called and sent letters requesting I get this done. I don't drink,smoke or do any "illegal" drugs and can't get help from our state or county.

Yes I am not getting the health and medical care I should. At 49, I won't be getting any mammograms, GYN check ups, cardiac screening, cholesterol checks or anything else. Having health insurance doesn't help alot unless you have some catastrophic event. The 2 meds I HAVE to have cost over $800 a month. I don't think the state of health care will ever improve for middle class working people. I'm come to accept I'll never be a member of the socio-economic group that can afford to "get the latest, greatest healthcare".

Of course I'm cutting back on healthcare expenses, just like the rest of the "working poor" in our economy. My husband and I both have jobs working 60+ hours per week, leaving barely enough time to spend with our kindergarten-aged child, for whom we are trying to provide food, shelter, and running water. I have two chronic health conditions for which the prescription drug co-payments are more than $350 per month. We have been told we "make too much" to receive assistance with prescription costs from the drug companies. Our insurance provider is a nation-wide "excellent" health-care provider, yet many of the medications I take are considered non-formulary despite being FDA-approved and having been on the market for over five years. My conditions are also considered unrecognized by my insurance provider. My doctor has suggested I apply for disability because my conditions are debilitating and progressive. Who can afford to do that? We are barely making ends meet as it is, and let me tell you, those ends are seriously frayed! God bless those who don't have insurance because I don't know how they make it at all.

I BREAK MY PILLS IN HALF TO GET SOME OF THE MEDICATION... AND AS FAR AS FOOD GOES... I EAT BEANS (PROTEIN), DRIED FOODS LIKE POTATOES.. I DRINK POWDERED DRINKS (CAN BE DELUTED AND STILL GET SOME NUTRITION).  I GO TO THE DOLLAR STORE AND GET WHAT PERSONAL PRODUCTS THAT I CAN.  THANK GOD FOR THE DOLLAR STORE.  THANKS FOR ASKING. 

Yes we have cut back. I have been cutting my anti-depressants in half. quit my Fish Oil, quit my 81 ASA a day, cutting my synthroid in half. I am pre-diabetic. trying to eat right, lose weight and exercise. Hubby's position, after 16 yrs, was eliminated in 7-08. I am working two jobs to make ends meet. Cars are breaking down. Not cheap to fix. I need a tooth extracted and they want money up front. Can't do it. I pray to stay healthy as hubby is disabled too and needs lots of medical care. He uses VA but that doesn't cover everything. And it is 50 miles one way to get there. We have been using a food program for over a year. OH not to mention that we filed Chapter 13 a year ago and lost our beautiful home. So things look bleak. BTW I am a nurse.

For the people who are cutting back on health care, the following suggestions. Most states have Public Health Nursing Agencies, look them up, they usually offer a lot of free and/or reduced services. For medicines you can not afford ask your doctor about the "Indigent Drug Program" and that program is initiated by the pharmaceutical companies to provide your medicine "FREE" of charge. You fill out the top, the doctor signs it and sends to the company. The medicine comes in the mail, usually to your medical facility where you stop to pick it up. Check out on the internet the various programs that are offered free or reduced cost for dental, vision, etc. Do not be afraid to utilize the services that is what they are for. Also, go to local county "Human Service Department" and sign up for state health insurance, the only way the "Powers" of this country will realize there is a problem is by statistics, so become one by obtaining services. Check out if there is a "Community Action Agency" to help pay for weatherization, electrical and heating needs. Also for medical bills ask the hospital if they have a "Special fund" in the budget for people who cannot pay the hospital bill, guarantee there probably is one. I wish you all the best. We live simply in our neck of the woods but work hard and get wonderful benefits through the Operating Engineer Local 49 Organization of where my husband is a union member. Union members can work for many different employers in the construction season but all the benefits are paid into one fund, hence you work three works on one job, two weeks on another job, etc., it is not so earth shattering, not putting all your eggs in one basket. One of the perks of fighting for union help and organizing is the ability to continually pay into the same health and welfare fund for health, vision, and dental perks. Also pays into a "bank" of hours so employee can be off work for months but have enough hours banked for health insurance coverage without having to pay extra during times of lay-off. Maybe this country has to rise up and say "Enough is enough" and start looking at bartering for union work and quit sending everything over seas. God bless all of you. I have been there like you have been and pray it never happens again, but if it does, I am not too proud to utilize the free services out there.

I work for a doctor's office and volunteer for a free medical clinic.  I am a clerical worker and not a nurse.  The insurance is going to cost me $97 a pay period and I am going to have a $2,500 deductible, I cannot add my college-age daughter to my insurance because of the expense.  The office I work for does not offer free medical care as a benefit, so I do not plan on using them unless I am very sick.  I refuse to take the cholesterol medication I was prescribed and to get the required lab work.  I do take a flu shot every year.  I am trying to lose weight and to stay healthy.  The medical clinic I volunteer for is a great service for those that do not have medical insurance and fall below 200% the proverty level.  The physicians will prescribe generic medications and the clinic offers some free lab work.  They refer patients that need pap smears, some other labs, and mammograms to the health department.  More and more communities and churches are opening up clinics.  They are a Godsend and keep lot of people out of the emergency rooms.  The draw back is that the people have to wait for hours before being seen and there are a limited number of appointments available.  Keep in mind, the physicians, the nurses and other staff do not get paid and are volunteering there time, money and resources.  If samples are available, they are given to patients but most of the time they are limited.  At the clinic I volunteer for, the main physicians are my employers and are the best in the county.  - Another suggestion, I can offer, speak to the billing department and the physician before an office visit.  Some will either write off the cost or will reduce the charges for hardship cases.  It doesn't hurt to ask.