After the fold is a short conversation that occured between myself and a pharmacist at my local store. This is my own account and I'm obviously not including the store name, the pharmacists name, or any other blatantly revealing information. It's just a deeply disurbing comment that everyone needs to read and repeat to their friends and family.
If you know any seniors impacted by this joke of a plan, you will want to read this...Last night after a long day of doctor appointments with the wife, I went to the local pharmacy to pick up the newest round of scrips. While I was turning in the scrips and renewing my insurance information the pharmacist took a call. It was a pretty darn busy night and I didn't mind.
From my side I was able to make out that the pharmacist was talking to someone about Medicare coverage.
"No ma'am, that won't be covered under the new plan.", she responded as if this was the 10,000 time she's said it.
"No ma'am, it isn't. I'm sorry, but that entire class of medication isn't covered."
A few moments passed and I could tell the pharmacist was hearing not so good news on the other end. A few more moments passed and I could see she was having real troubles listening. The pharmacist's voice changed and she finally said, "Yes ma'am" in a very sympathetic, nearly choked up voice. She then slowly hung up the phone.
I could tell she was upset by the call. I tried to lighten the situation a little with a smart ass remark like, "things slow around here huh?"
She just smirked at the sarcasm.
"I imagine it's crazy at this time of the year with all the new insurance and stuff", I said.
"Yeah, then there's this whole Medicare mess."
"Not working out well?"
A moment or two passed, about 5 seconds I'd guess. Then she looked around her as if to check if anyone was listening, then leaned forward and said something I don't think I will ever forget:
"I'm just tired of making old people cry."
She then pulled back with a look that said "Please don't tell anyone I said that", then went right back to taking care of my prescriptions as she'd done 1000 times that day.
I was left dumbstruck. What could I possibly say? How could I possibly empathise with her? It took everything I had to get the image of my 70+yr old mother crying over medications out of my head.
I think one of the things that really made it hit home was that this wasn't some 50yr old woman who had been a pharmacist for 20 years and had likely dealt with every situation under the sun. No, this was a young woman that's probably only been out of college for 2 years, if that. I imagine this is only her first year at her job and this is the kind of thing she has to see every day.
From nurses to doctors, pharmacists, and almost everyone in the health care profession knows that this plan is a complete joke and should never had been passed. But, we all know how that song and dance went. Arm twisting, lies about the cost, 6hr open votes, bribing of congressmen, and 1000 other Delay-style mafia tactics.
It's time we treat our seniors with the respect they deserve. Hell, it's time ALL Americans get the respect they deserve. It's not like they are asking for much...just to survive day to day in a country where the government has turned it's back on the average citizen because of it's own incompetence and greed.
It just breaks my heart as I'm sure it does yours. No one, and I mean NO ONE should have to go through what these seniors are having to go through. After all the sacrifices they made for their country, this is how they are treated. It's a shame, and it's an embarrassment that it's happening in America.
UPDATE: As mentioned in the comments, there are a couple of other diaries covering this disaster here from Adigal, and from Lode Runner. Make sure you have a look at those as well.