Exactly.
And I don’t have the answer either, but I assume things can improve by people who are experts in this field.
One hopes that there can be some degree of compassion for those who under the current healthcare systems have no good options.
I was recently prescribed eye drops (Restasis and Lotemax) that run $500 and $265 for a one month supply. If I had to pay full price, I'd definitely not fill them. Fortunately, I found a manufacturer's coupon for Lotemax which pay's all but $60 for three months. My part D insurance provider paid the better part of a 90 supply of Restasis after the doctor wrote a letter justifying my need for it.
Age related vision issues are common. They are not life threatening. People with low or modest incomes likely ignore them and may not even have had them diagnosed since vision insurance doesn't offer great coverage. Much the same is true for dental insurance. I am having a fractured tooth crowned this month. The cost to do this is almost $1,500. My dental insurance only covers preventative care, which this is not according to them. Last month, I had a small chip in one of my front teeth repaired. It ran me $275.
The last few years that my wife was alive but acutely ill, our out of pocket medical expenses ranged between $8,000 and $10,000 a year. This was with Regence MedAdvantage health insurance coverage. Out of pocket costs for non-network dialysis ran us $450 a week. We went with the out of network dialysis because it was located about a mile from our home. In network dialysis was a good half hour drive each way. This meant 4 trips because I wasn't going to hang out at the hospital for an average of 6 hours, three days a week while my wife was hooked up to the machine.
