Prescription Woes

Prescription coverage. Holy Jesus.

My mom, a public school teacher in Michigan, had the most amazing insurance (my dad's law firm had crap insurance. Go figure). It covered everything. Plus - and I know that y'all are never going to believe me when I tell you this - our prescription co-pay was only $0.50 on any prescription. FIFTY CENTS. Fact.

Good thing, too, since my brother seemed to catch colds, coughs, and fevers for the both of us. I rarely got sick, but I do remember getting chicken pox on the last day of second grade. Suck!

Anyway, when one child was sick, the other made out like a bandit. The pharmacy we used was a little Mom and Pop place that eventually went under thanks to Arbor Drugs (now CVS) and Rite Aid, but that's where I got my Archie comics fill (and Clearly Canadian!). When my little brother was sick, he got to choose one dollar's worth of candy... and so did I. It was awesome. The little old lady at the register would hand us each a tiny paper bag and we could pick from penny candy all the way up to the very expensive ten-cent candy. It. Was. AWESOME.

Prescriptions stayed under a buck until I was in high school, at which time our co-pay skyrocketed to $2.00 per prescription. Horrendous, I know.

Now, as an "adult," I have what is considered phenomenal coverage (by who? I don't know - it's what I'm told) because I only have to pay 25% of my prescription costs.

Fast forward to today. My dermatologist prescribed something in pill form and gave me a $50 coupon to "help" with the out-of-pocket costs. That... kinda scared me.

With the help of the coupon, I ended up paying $28 for the pills. The cost without insurance? $427.99. To CLEAR UP PIMPLES. Not to treat cancer and not to keep my heart beating regularly. To make my skin pretty.

Unreal.