When COBRA bites
December 2, 2009Jon Brooks Comments Off
Yesterday marked the expiration of the first wave of subsidies distributed to unemployed workers for their COBRA health insurance. The subsidies, part of the stimulus package passed in February, cover 65% of COBRA premiums for nine months for those laid off from September 2008 to December 2009. So unless congress acts, the cost of health insurance premiums for millions of jobless people is going to triple.
If no government extension emerges, many will undoubtedly have to drop their plans Here’s one blog post from someone who suffers from both depression and COBRA sticker shock:
Last night I stopped over at my parents’ house for a visit. I had just stopped by the pharmacy to get my Happy Pills and realized something horrifying–my Cobra insurance is running out very soon. I’ve already applied for my very own health care package through a local group, but most self-purchased health insurance policies do not cover pre-existing conditions, and my anxiety and depression sadly fall into that category in the mental-health bracket of their giant list. Greeeeat. So while I was at the pharmacy, I casually asked how much the pills would cost if I didn’t have insurance and promptly wanted to DIE.
I take Effexor XR. There is no generic for this, yes? So, um, we’re talking hundreds of dollars a month. Xanax has a generic, so we’re good to go there. But then we come to my Raging Insomnia which is exacerbated by my Raging Ear Whooshing. Recently, the generic for Ambien that I’d been taking stopped working like it used to. So my doctor switched me to Lunesta, which has given me the best sleep I’ve had since I was a child. The problem? I paid $40 for my monthly supply yesterday. But when I asked for the price with no insurance? $179.99. The generic for Lunesta? Comes out in 2012. Right when the world ends…Perhaps I just won’t sleep at night ever.
I’ll get it figured out. I really will. The problem is that Effexor XR really does balance out my anxiety and depression in a way that makes me feel really good. Before this, I took Lexapro, which made me feel like a zombie and added 50 pounds to my frame in roughly 3 months…
What I’m trying to say is that I’m not going to f*ck with my mental stability by switching up medications just because my Cobra is running out. The worst case scenario would be to send myself on a roller coaster of emotional mayhem right in the middle of the holiday season and a major work project just because health care in the US is such a joke. I’m actually quite lucky when I think about it. What about people who have really BAD diseases? The people who take like 50 pills a day? I am not them. So I am lucky. It’s all about keeping a positive mental attitude!
