Say hello to my little friend, the $110 bottle of eardrops:
I spent a couple of hours last Sunday at a bowling alley that apparently hasn’t been vacuumed since Nixon was President, and about halfway through the party, I was coughing and sneezing. By Monday afternoon, I wasn’t congested that much, but I felt lightheaded. The best way I could describe it was the way you feel when you first get off a merry-go-round that was spinning really fast. That feeling like something is shifting inside your head and you are powerless to stop it.
Tuesday morning, the lightheadedness was worse and constant. I called my doctor’s office only to learn that the next available appointment was in JULY. I took a Claritin and tried to stick it out, but by the time I had to drive to pick up Ryan from an after-school activity, I knew I couldn’t wait any longer. I dropped Ryan off at home to watch Nathan and Kaitlyn, and drove to a nearby Urgent Care. The waiting room was surprisingly empty and I got right in to see the doctor.
Diagnosis: the OUTER part of my right ear was, quote, “very red”. He never said infected, and when I specifically asked if there was trapped fluid in my ear, he said no. So basically, my ear canal on the right side was irritated, and congestion was trapped deep in my sinuses, causing the lightheadedness. The doctor left the room for a minute and came back holding a prescription for eardrops. I was surprised, because I’ve always taken an oral antibiotic for ear problems. I took the prescription to the Target pharmacy, spent 20 minutes browsing, then came back to pick it up.
The pharmacy cashier had a frown on her face. “I’m sorry, but your insurance only covered $9.00 of this. Your charge is $110.00″. Excuse me? Did she just say one hundred and ten dollars for 2.5 milliliters of medication? Medication I’m only going to take for seven days? The pharmacist walked over and took a look. “Oh”, she said. This medication has no generic substitute. Your prescription coverage has a much higher copay on brand name medications. You could go back and ask for a different prescription for something in a generic.”
Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. I was already being irresponsible just by driving while experiencing lightheadedness. I wasn’t going to make my way out of the store, drive back to the Urgent Care, sit in the waiting room, and then ask the doctor for a different prescription! Fortunately for us, my husband has a fixed amount taken out of every paycheck and deposited into a Health Equity account for paying out-of-pocket medical expenses. It comes with a handy VISA debit card. I whipped that out and crossed my fingers that there was $110 in the account while swiping the card.
I googled the medication when I got home, and learned that Ciprofloxacin is an antibiotic that is used to treat bacterial infections, and dexamethasone is a cortical steroid. And while there is a generic available for both ingredients individually, there isn’t a generic for this particular combination. Which is why Blue Cross only covered $9.00 and I paid $110, for HALF A TEASPOON of medication.
My ear had better never get infected ever again.
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