The High Cost of Toilet Paper

The other day Mom and I was going over our grocery list to see what was needed. I told her we needed to add toilet paper to the list.
Toilet paper?! We just bought toilet paper 2 weeks ago!
I know, Mom, but there’s only 2 rolls left and that won’t last for another week.
Just how much toilet paper do you use?
Well, when I lived alone, I averaged using about 3 or 4 rolls per week.
3 or 4 ROLLS PER WEEK!!!!!!!! My god, Barbara! That is so wasteful!!
No it’s not, Mom. That is average for most women. Actually I know many women who use a lot more than that. I, also, use it for Kleenex to blow my nose you know. A 4-roll pack only costs 99 cents.
99 CENTS!! OUTRAGEOUS!!! Prices these days are ridiculous!!
Mom, that’s the cheap generic brand. Other brands are twice as expensive and, besides, I buy my own toilet paper. It doesn’t come out of your money.
That doesn’t matter. You shouldn’t spend your money like that, you know it doesn’t last forever!
Gee, Mom, you might want to think about that when you buy 2 puzzle books a week at $3 and $4 per book!
I need my puzzle books!
Well, I’m pretty sure I need my toilet paper!

(( Ok, readers, help me out here. How much toilet paper do you use per week?))
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When we went to the eye doctor for Mom’s checkup on her Glaucoma, he said the drops weren’t lowering the pressure very much.

Mrs. P, I’m afraid I have to strongly suggest having surgery for the glaucoma. We can do a combined Glaucoma/Cataract surgery so you only have to do it one time.
I’m not having surgery at my age. I’m 87 years old.
Mrs. P, I have 4 patients who are over 100 and very thankful to be able to see clearly again.
I don’t care! I’m not having surgery!
Ok, Mrs. P, I’ll honor your wishes. I’m going to add 2 more eye drop medicines to your routine and see if those help to get your pressure down. But, if they don’t help, then I will press for surgery.
I’m not having surgery. Period.
Well, I will still press for it.

((Yeh. Good luck with that Doc!))

Tearing My Hair Out!

Mom’s been doing good since she got on the eye drop therapy for her glaucoma. The drug plan she joined costs her $25.00 per month and the co-pay for the eye drops costs her $35.00 per month. Without this coverage, her drops would cost $190.00 per month!!!!
She was happy with this arrangement until she got her current bill.

Since she didn’t sign up for drug coverage when she first got on Medicare, she has to pay a penalty for that. The penalty is an extra $13.00 per month on her drug plan which ups the total monthly payment to $38.00. She threw a bit of a hissy fit when this happened but Sis J and I talked her down and she finally agreed that $38.00 per month was still way cheaper than $190.00.

Well, this current bill charged her the $13.00 each for January, February, and March all in one bill which brought the total to $64.00. Oh my God! She just blew! She cussed up a storm declaring she was NOT going to pay that bill. I explained to her that they were catching up on the penalty fees from the last 2 months plus this one that is due in March, then after that it will go back to the $38.00.

I am not paying it! I’m sick to death of all these bills! To hell with it! I’m dropping the whole thing.
Mom, you can’t drop the whole thing or you’ll get penalized for that, too!
Why are they charging me a penalty anyway?
Medicare is charging you the penalty because you didn’t sign up for drug care when you first signed up for Medicare years ago.
I didn’t need drugs then! Why would I sign up for it then?
Mom, I agree with you there. If it was me and I didn’t need any drugs, I’d probably not sign up for it either. But, the reality is--this is Medicare’s rule and there is nothing you can do about it.
Yes there is something I can do about it--I’ll stop this whole drug plan. I won’t pay the bill. What can they do to me?
Mom, you have to keep the plan. Those eye drops cost $190.00 for a month’s prescription and you can’t afford that!
I’ll make myself afford it! I won’t put up with this crap!
Mom, if you can make yourself afford $190.00 then why can’t you simply make yourself afford the $64.00 for now, then the $38.00 from now on. I don’t get your logic.

She got quiet after that. When Sis J came over later, I recounted the conversation with Mom and she told her the same thing I told her.
It’s all a bunch of shit but I guess I have no choice in the matter.

Mom has an appointment this coming Monday to have her eyes checked to see if the drops are helping her eye pressure. I sure hope they are! If they’re not and Doc says she has to have surgery we will have an even bigger blow-up on our hands!

I have to go pick up the clumps of my hair from the floor now............

Outrageous Drug Prices!

I am appalled at the high cost of drug prices! Mom went for her cataract evaluation and found out not only does she have cataracts in both eyes, she also has glaucoma! She is not showing any symptoms yet so she swore the doc was wrong. It took him, Sis, and me to explain to her that the symptoms won’t show up until it gets worse and too late to do anything about it. She needed to ‘nip it in the bud’ starting now. So, she finally relented and agreed to treatment. Doc called in a prescription for glaucoma eye drops and all was well.

So we thought!

Before going to the pharmacy, I called for the price so Mom would know how much to write the check for so I could pick it up. The eye drops cost $190!! For a one month supply! What!!!???? There was no way she could afford that every month over her lifetime (that’s how long she’ll have to use them), no way anyone in her income bracket could afford that! She is on Social Security and only has Medicare Part A and Part B. She has no prescription coverage at all.

When Mom originally signed up for Medicare, it wasn’t explained very well to her so she didn’t know about the prescription coverage. She has to wait until her birthday--February--before she can make changes on her plan. So, she’s stuck with what she has for now.

Mom said she was not going to do the treatment due to the high cost and I agreed with her. I said I’d see what else could be done.

I got on Wal Mart’s website and looked up their $4.00 prescription plan. There was a list of a dozen different glaucoma eye drops available for $4.00 per month or $10.00 for 3 months. I emailed the doc with the information asking him if she could use one of the cheaper drops. He said she could although those eye drops were less effective, she would have to use them twice per day rather than once. I said that was fine. So, I picked up the order at Wal Mart and all is fine now.

It just enrages me that the drug companies make these wonderful drugs for all kinds of diseases but have them priced so high that many cannot afford them! Where’s the heart in that? It just tells me the companies are in it for the profits and not for the care of a patient. I have a dear friend with severe osteoarthritis pain and there is a wonderful drug available for treatment. It costs $1,000 per month! As that is not affordable for her, she must suffer needlessly!

Outrageous!!