01 December 2018

Medical costs - yes, in Canada.

Just did the math.
A 30 day supply of my prescription drugs is $216.83. That's $7.23 every day. I cannot reduce them or skip doses... Discovered that recently. It's this or collapse. I need my meds like a diabetic needs insulin.
Oh and these costs are without the marijuana, which is about $8.60 a gram and I use 1.5-2 g a day. (Once I have plants here, that will hopefully go down.)
Twenty bucks a day buys the ability to sleep, reduced (but not eliminated) chest pain, and the strength to do one or two errands a week. It buys me the oomph to do what's necessary and to get through what needs doing. And no more.
That twenty bucks doesn't buy me enough functionality to work. Doesn't buy me enough strength to keep up with my housework or remember to pay the bills on time or pay for Ben's care. Doesn't pay the fuel and parking for monthly appointments with psychiatrist and psychologist, which are also necessary.
I will try again to get the Alberta Adult Health Benefit, but they turned me down last time.
It'd be one thing if this was the cost to deal with something that would, in time, get better. I am never going to be "better" and these costs are going to increase - tolerance happens, doses have to be upped, new meds added to address new troubles.
We need national pharmacare.
My husband should not have to work extra just to pay for the medication that keeps me alive. He earns "too much money" for us to qualify for government support, but that seems ... I dunno, off. I definitely think those who truly can't afford it should be first in line, but ... if we say everyone deserves health care, shouldn't chronic conditions be subsidized in some fashion? What is the point of my psychiatric care being covered if the medications that they prescribe are not included? It's like we get as far as diagnosis and critical care, but when the condition becomes chronic, people are expected to just figure it out. 
My brain doesn't work right. "Figuring it out" is hard.