Breathing Lessons
I know a lot of people who are paying more for health care this year. I won't pretend to know the solution to the health care pickle this country is in. I couldn't even begin to tell you what my opinion is. But after yesterday I'm certain the system needs a reboot.
You see, Jake has asthma. Even though my sister has asthma, I didn't know much about asthma until Jake had an attack that required hospitalization last year. Turns out, his asthma is often prompted by a virus. You get a stomach virus and get diarrhea. He gets a stomach virus and gets diarrhea ... and asthma.
Yesterday Jake's school nurse called to tell me he had a fever and needed to go home. I called the doctor because I needed to know if his fever indicated an infection (hence antibiotics) or a virus (hence, a possible asthma attack). I won't go into the diagnosis. In non-medical terms, it happened to be one part infection, one part asthma. So once again, the doctor prescribed Xopenex breathing treatments several times a day and an antibiotic. For good measure, he prescribed a skin cream for a bad case of eczema.
So, next stop, the pharmacy. Our pharmacy is notoriously slow. Painfully so. But this time, when it was taking longer than usual, I suspected the cause might be my new insurance. And it was. Turns out, my insurance won't cover the breathing treatments. That means $500 out of pocket, if I NEED the breathing treatments. Because, well, breathing is optional, I guess. There's a generic brand of breathing, I suppose. But the skin cream, that's covered. Can't have itchy skin.
I understand all the subtleties that went into this. I'm being sarcastic to make a point. But if this is what I get with decent health care, God help those who have no coverage. And I do mean God help them. I'm not sure anyone else is.
In the end I called the doctor, asked if we could use a different inhalation solution that we happened to have extras of at home and he said yes.
So Jakey and I are home today. Taking breathing treatments, playing Battle and watching a lot of Star Wars. A pretty good day, even if you are sick.
You see, Jake has asthma. Even though my sister has asthma, I didn't know much about asthma until Jake had an attack that required hospitalization last year. Turns out, his asthma is often prompted by a virus. You get a stomach virus and get diarrhea. He gets a stomach virus and gets diarrhea ... and asthma.
Yesterday Jake's school nurse called to tell me he had a fever and needed to go home. I called the doctor because I needed to know if his fever indicated an infection (hence antibiotics) or a virus (hence, a possible asthma attack). I won't go into the diagnosis. In non-medical terms, it happened to be one part infection, one part asthma. So once again, the doctor prescribed Xopenex breathing treatments several times a day and an antibiotic. For good measure, he prescribed a skin cream for a bad case of eczema.
So, next stop, the pharmacy. Our pharmacy is notoriously slow. Painfully so. But this time, when it was taking longer than usual, I suspected the cause might be my new insurance. And it was. Turns out, my insurance won't cover the breathing treatments. That means $500 out of pocket, if I NEED the breathing treatments. Because, well, breathing is optional, I guess. There's a generic brand of breathing, I suppose. But the skin cream, that's covered. Can't have itchy skin.
I understand all the subtleties that went into this. I'm being sarcastic to make a point. But if this is what I get with decent health care, God help those who have no coverage. And I do mean God help them. I'm not sure anyone else is.
In the end I called the doctor, asked if we could use a different inhalation solution that we happened to have extras of at home and he said yes.
So Jakey and I are home today. Taking breathing treatments, playing Battle and watching a lot of Star Wars. A pretty good day, even if you are sick.
posted by Romine Family at 10:56 AM
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