Between a Rock and a Generic
I received a disturbing automated text from my pharmacy yesterday, informing me that it could not refill my prescription because my medication was "out-of-stock." What in the world does that mean? I questioned as I quickly dialed the CVS Pharmacy that I've been picking up prescriptions from since I moved to Hartford 14 years ago.
To fill you in, my prescription is my birth control, and for as long as I've been patronizing the same CVS Pharmacy, I've been taking the prescription - OrthoTri-Cyclen Lo. If you're a woman, you understand how personal and important your choice of birth control is to your everyday well being. I was prescribed Ortho many years ago because the hormone level in the pill was the lowest on the market and for me, that is paramount because hormonal imbalance causes a condition that I like to call "batshit crazy." I went through a stretch in my early twenties when I suffered from this condition and let me tell you - it was not pretty.
Everything was working out swimmingly with Ortho until last May when the FDA approved a generic form of the pill. This was not the first time that a generic form of Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo had been developed, the first time was eight years ago, but that generic was quickly pulled from the market due to a patent infringement battle between rival drug fabricators. However, this brings me back to present day and my current predicament.
"The generic we have been filling your prescription with is currently out-of-stock, so we've tried the second and third best option but haven't been able to find any of that either," my friendly pharmacist explained to me over the phone.
I know what you're thinking right now, why doesn't she just ask for the real thing? Good question, the answer would be that if I opted to actually fill my prescription with Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo at this point, it would cost me $400.
I have really good health insurance. My husband is a state employee, and our insurance plan is through Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield. Up until May of last year, I was enthralled to be picking up a three-month supply (which they mandate) of Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo for $0. To say I was spoiled is an understatement. However, our insurance also mandates that if there is a generic offered for a name brand drug on the market, you must take that generic or pay full price. The last time I paid full price for my birth control was 2003, and at that point, a monthly pack of Ortho was $56. During that time of my life, I was working three jobs and was lucky to have a "value plan" health insurance option at the television station where I made close to $16,000 a year. The generic wasn't offered then, and my insurance wouldn't pay for any brand name drug, so I didn't have a choice. There were months that I skipped my prescription because I simply couldn't afford it and that brings me to my broader point - the onus of birth control.
When I relayed this situation to my husband last night, his response was "why don't you just call the insurance company and explain what's happening?" Rather than get into a heated argument about why insurance companies don't give a shit about the fact that my generic birth control is not in stock or why I shouldn't have to come up with the money to pay full price for a birth control that saves our asses from getting pregnant every month and paying for a lifetime of childcare - I let it go. In fact, I called my insurance company first thing this morning, but their helpline wasn't open yet.
Why is it that women must pay ridiculous costs for prophylactics when we are only half of the scenario when it comes to reproduction? As of today, I have to figure out a permanent solution to a problem that I will know will continue to resurface. This isn't going to be the only time the generic is out-of-stock and given the current situation with national healthcare, there are most certainly going to be fewer people who care. So my options are 1.) Get my tubes tied - absolutely not because I might actually want to have a child one day. 2.) Research IUD's - which I did last year around this time and was scared off by the dozens of Internet forums with comments that warned of excessive weight gain, uncontrollable and incredibly painful cramping, and even worse, the possibility of it falling out or getting dislodged somewhere in the uterus. 3.) Pray like hell that my pharmacy finds a generic to fill and fast. 4.) Abstinence. Seriously?
Reproduction planning is our burden as women, and when situations like mine occur they seem minimal at first but then you look at the broader arguments that arise regarding abortion, and you wonder why we rage at times. It is because our healthcare system makes it costly to be responsible and then punishes you when the inevitable happens. So here I am, waiting for the helpline at the insurance company to open so that I can plead my case, be denied and then pray, pray, pray. And I'm not even religious.
To fill you in, my prescription is my birth control, and for as long as I've been patronizing the same CVS Pharmacy, I've been taking the prescription - OrthoTri-Cyclen Lo. If you're a woman, you understand how personal and important your choice of birth control is to your everyday well being. I was prescribed Ortho many years ago because the hormone level in the pill was the lowest on the market and for me, that is paramount because hormonal imbalance causes a condition that I like to call "batshit crazy." I went through a stretch in my early twenties when I suffered from this condition and let me tell you - it was not pretty.
Everything was working out swimmingly with Ortho until last May when the FDA approved a generic form of the pill. This was not the first time that a generic form of Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo had been developed, the first time was eight years ago, but that generic was quickly pulled from the market due to a patent infringement battle between rival drug fabricators. However, this brings me back to present day and my current predicament.
"The generic we have been filling your prescription with is currently out-of-stock, so we've tried the second and third best option but haven't been able to find any of that either," my friendly pharmacist explained to me over the phone.
I know what you're thinking right now, why doesn't she just ask for the real thing? Good question, the answer would be that if I opted to actually fill my prescription with Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo at this point, it would cost me $400.
I have really good health insurance. My husband is a state employee, and our insurance plan is through Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield. Up until May of last year, I was enthralled to be picking up a three-month supply (which they mandate) of Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo for $0. To say I was spoiled is an understatement. However, our insurance also mandates that if there is a generic offered for a name brand drug on the market, you must take that generic or pay full price. The last time I paid full price for my birth control was 2003, and at that point, a monthly pack of Ortho was $56. During that time of my life, I was working three jobs and was lucky to have a "value plan" health insurance option at the television station where I made close to $16,000 a year. The generic wasn't offered then, and my insurance wouldn't pay for any brand name drug, so I didn't have a choice. There were months that I skipped my prescription because I simply couldn't afford it and that brings me to my broader point - the onus of birth control.
When I relayed this situation to my husband last night, his response was "why don't you just call the insurance company and explain what's happening?" Rather than get into a heated argument about why insurance companies don't give a shit about the fact that my generic birth control is not in stock or why I shouldn't have to come up with the money to pay full price for a birth control that saves our asses from getting pregnant every month and paying for a lifetime of childcare - I let it go. In fact, I called my insurance company first thing this morning, but their helpline wasn't open yet.
Why is it that women must pay ridiculous costs for prophylactics when we are only half of the scenario when it comes to reproduction? As of today, I have to figure out a permanent solution to a problem that I will know will continue to resurface. This isn't going to be the only time the generic is out-of-stock and given the current situation with national healthcare, there are most certainly going to be fewer people who care. So my options are 1.) Get my tubes tied - absolutely not because I might actually want to have a child one day. 2.) Research IUD's - which I did last year around this time and was scared off by the dozens of Internet forums with comments that warned of excessive weight gain, uncontrollable and incredibly painful cramping, and even worse, the possibility of it falling out or getting dislodged somewhere in the uterus. 3.) Pray like hell that my pharmacy finds a generic to fill and fast. 4.) Abstinence. Seriously?
Reproduction planning is our burden as women, and when situations like mine occur they seem minimal at first but then you look at the broader arguments that arise regarding abortion, and you wonder why we rage at times. It is because our healthcare system makes it costly to be responsible and then punishes you when the inevitable happens. So here I am, waiting for the helpline at the insurance company to open so that I can plead my case, be denied and then pray, pray, pray. And I'm not even religious.
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