General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: This message was self-deleted by its author [View all]Ms. Toad
(34,065 posts)The contact information for any plan sold through the exchanges is easy to find. If I had a condition that required costly medicines, I would have spent considerable time comparing my options - as I did for the last set of plans I had to choose between in the same time frame (October, then again in January). Although the mechanism for signing on the dotted line is different, the process of choosing between plans is identical.
It sucks to be chronically ill.
But anyone with a chronic, costly, illness, has to become equipped to deal with the medical system - whatever the structure. From care through payment. It is a matter of survival. My daughter has been chronically ill since she was 4 (she's nearly 24 now), and my spouse has less serious, but still chronic, illnesses. I would not dream of buying insurance without making sure their drugs and critical doctors were covered, or without estimating what the annual out of pocket spend would be. Medicare - which everyone touts as the model for single payer - has similar challenges and options for drug coverage - well covered in the news for anyone who has not been sleeping for the past decade (at least). I shouldn't have had to diagnose my daughter's most recent chronic illness - but I did. That sucks too. I shouldn't have had to find a drug trial when no approved medical treatments were available. She shouldn't have to be battling her way back from a mental health hell hole her psychiatrist left her in.
But that is the reality of living with a chronic illness - you have to deal with things no one else has to deal with. And unless Will Pitt's wife was diagnosed after they purchased health insurance, it was medical and financial suicide not to take that obligation seriously. And the reality of formularies, or the failure to verify what meds are covered, has nothing to do with the ACA
And if you aren't equipped to sort it out, there are navigators to help you out.