Today is better than it's been in awhile. The forecast is for hot over the next two weeks. It isn't my cuppa.
I've been navigating the insurance maze Americans must stumble through when seeking healthcare. I have been referred to pain management and rehabilitation and have tried to figure out if it's covered and if so, how much out of pocket will I need to pay. The online answers are ambiguous. I will probably need to spend a lot of time on hold to get an answer. This really is a sad state of affairs. I was put on a medication which is $500/month without insurance. $500 Yes, you read that right. It still costs me $46. I won't go into my usual rant, I'll let that speak for itself.
My dog needed to go to the vet yesterday because of an ear infection. She also needed a rabies vaccination. I don't know what happened at that clinic but all the vets are new to us. Walked out of there a lot lighter than we walked in. I have always been amazed at the price difference in small animal care and large animal care. Guess which one costs more.....yep, small. Not by as much as it used to, but still a lot. A few years ago my dogs had worms. I was given dewormer at $60, it had been put in a bag and stapled. The tech told me is was a special high value dewormer. I got home and saw what it was, something I could buy for a 1200 pound horse at $6 a tube. Can you tell I'm really cranky. If not, I am.
Yesterday's court ruling regarding the EPA is just another indication that we are on the road to destruction. All of this is not helping my state of mind, which is tenuous at best. Anyway, I need to get it out somewhere and here is better than at Mark, especially now. The man has always been like an electric current runs through him, a high anxiety guy. He fell backwards on an asphalt tennis court almost seven years ago, sustaining a concussion with brain injury. We are a brain injured pair, which has it's challenges. Mine ramped up depression, his ramped up anxiety. I wouldn't have thought his anxiety could be any worse, I was wrong. He's been on a medication which tamped it down to almost tolerable but it stopped working. He's being weaned off that drug and will start something else today. In the mean-time, Holy Hannah. So I am doing my ornery rants here. Fun times at Worlds End, let me tell you. It seems I named the farm appropriately!
Let's end with my five years gone beloved Howard giving me the stink eye whilst sporting a nice horse manure stained snout. AROOO!
10 comments:
Arooooo is about the right response to all this fresh hell. So sorry you're both going through such a lot.
Boud, he had it right, when you don't like it, make a powerful noise! And eat the manure, even when she says stop. Just move onto another spot and dig in. We have such an effed up system, in so many ways, it's making this old cynic's head spin.
Our health care system sucks...My Husbands weekly Infusions would bankrupt us if we didn't have insurance.
Best of luck running the Insurance gauntlet! :(
Thanks Far Side. I'll need to run that gauntlet before I go to the appointment in August. I don't need a surprise. It truly does suck.
We are all being taken to the cleaners. I know what you mean about ivermectin and the way we get charged to worm our dogs. (Not to mention what we get charged just to walk into an animal hospital). Our horses, dogs and cats do not need all the shots that are prescribed...if you really know how long they last in their bodies. A flu/rhino shot in a horse lasts for about 3 months. Don't get them or some of the others after talking to Cornell (vet school).
Being horse owners makes us unpleasant to small animal vets. The horse vets have changed, as well. My horse vet was old school and wonderful, but he retired in December 2015. If I had agreed to everything she wanted me to do I'd have left there with a bill of $800. I won't have another dog after Keetah. I knew that after my last dog died in 2018, but I also knew I'd end up with Kate's dogs. Cornell tells the truth, that's good to know.
Navigating insurance is a horrible thing. It may as well be gobbilty gook for most folks. I do know that we could not afford most of my hubby's meds if he were not a disabled veteran.
Our system stinks and is leading to a disaster.
The care for a equine vet is cheaper than seeing a small animal vet.
The $$ is in small animals.
We have about 6 small animal vet clinics in our small town and about 3 large animal vets in the general area.
I know that my husband raised Redtick hounds for many years. He gave most of his shots and did all but the rabies back then. He even knew how to give shots and subque ?? dehydrated pups. He was handy to have around when my mare got ill.
That is all changed now.
The Supreme Court? What a joke! One sad decision after another which turns our country backwards.
I have done most of my horse care myself. You learn a lot. Our healthcare system is a joke. When health and life are dependent on a for profit model, that's about all you need to know. I don't think this country is capable of evolving.
Sandra, I have to agree 100%. I used to sit at a desk and try to help older folks make sense of their billings.
My MIL bought a good Advantage Care insurance program and it was good as long as she was healthy. Once she started suffering from multiple issues, it became the worst insurance ever.
It's bad enough we have to pay so much for insurance for old people, not knowing what is and what isn't covered, how much will be out of pocket if it is covered. It's ridiculous. Ah, well, we are having a light rain which is better than nothing.
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