I have had Aetna health insurance for ten years. In 2000, my annual cost was $0, co-pays were $10, and prescriptions were $10. Throughout my ten years of patronage, and yes I am a customer, my use of the insurance has been minimal. Fast forward to today. My policy is exactly the same; however, I pay $1,200 annually, co-pays are $15 or $25 depending on the doctor, and prescriptions costs are determined by claim activity. That’s right. Just today, I found out that the monthly cost for my miracle allergy medication just doubled. The exact same medication with the exact same cost is $100 instead of $49. Is that not the very definition of highway robbery? Get someone dependent on a miracle drug and then raise the price. Wow.
I am livid. According to Aetna they can now charge me more for prescriptions based upon my recent claims. Folks, you have to experience this crap to believe it. It doesn’t matter what the claim, the cost goes up. Can you imagine if something catastrophic happened to me? I bet that miracle drug would be $1,000.
The worst part about all this nonsense is that the recently defeated healthcare legislation wouldn’t have fixed this. Instead, it probably would have encouraged it. Healthcare companies like Aetna would have continued to “sock it” to their customers just like their greedy bank counterparts. In my opinion, that kind of approach is bad business. Isolating customers and increasing prices to make a quick buck is a formula for bankruptcy.
As for me, I won’t pay $100 per month for a drug that only costs them $30. I may be able to afford it, thanks be to God, but I refuse. As a result, I will probably have to see my doctor every couple of months because a preventable condition will no longer be treated. As a result, Aetna will go from making money with a prescription treatment to losing money with a poor standard of care. Please, for the love of the laws of business, tell me where that makes good business sense?
It is days like this that I really worry about people who can’t afford to have their prescription costs doubled. What if the medication they are taking is saving their life? What if it is making their quality of life better? Should people have to mortgage their lives to survive? To these healthcare companies, they don’t care because their greed has no bounds. No, they want their new boat, vacation home, third new car, or new gadget. They don’t care if it is bad business. To me, this sort of thing is unconscionable. In a way, I take pity on those perpetrating this evil. They will ultimately have to answer to God for it.
