Medicaid Mary appears. She has three prescriptions: Fioricet, Tramadol, and Oxycodone. The Tramadol goes through insurance without an issue, but they don't want to pay for the Fioricet and Oxycodone until TOMORROW... probably because it's too early since her last fill.
Medicaid Mary tells me that she's going out of town tomorrow and needs her medication NOW. Since Time Machines haven't been invented yet, I tell her the best thing I can do is run the prescriptions in the morning. She says that will be fine and then tells me that she'll be by at 11am. This is hours after we open on Saturday so I think all is well, I'll get it all ready to go for her before she gets there at 11am. She confirms with me, not once, but TWICE... that I will indeed have the prescriptions ready at 11am. Despite the insulting insinuation that I'm a complete buffoon, I assure her that they will be ready at 11am.
Since I know that I'm working the next day, I go ahead and get the medications counted and ready. I even printed labels. As far as the counting part goes, they were all ready to go. I'm like Jack in the Box ready to crank the lever!
Saturday morning, literally TWO MINUTES after I roll up the gates... TWO MINUTES
Medicaid Mary appears. She wants to know if her medication is ready for pick up. It's NOT 11am. It's not anywhere close to 11am. After being insulted about when I would have the medication ready, here's the real buffoon wanting to know where her vacation travel buddies are.
"I'm sorry," I said... "The magic elves took the night off and didn't fill any prescriptions last night. Fortunately, I counted them ahead of time and all I need to do is process them on the insurance. I'll have them ready in a few minutes once I get the computer going."
I have NO PROBLEM with people on Medicaid that are patient and thankful for their medication. I have no problem with people on Medicaid who have no issue with being patient... who understand that it takes time to fill a medication, and that they can't have a 30 day medication every 20 days. But the number of people going on entitlement programs is increasing dramatically and way too many of them are developing a seriously BAD attitude.
8 comments:
I agree with everything you say. I see it in my pharmacy daily. The only thing I have a problem with is that medicaid is considered an entitlement program. In my opinion, one is only entitled to what they work for. The majority of these people choose not to work and expect everything for free. They are entitled to nothing.
I don't think I'd be employed if I spoke to my customers like that, which is a shame as I have so many things I'd like to say with that being one of them.
I often joke we should have the MacDonald's logo above our pharmacy - fast drugs as opposed to fast food.
As an ED nurse I totally agree with you. I am all for medical coverage for the needy but the entitlement that makes people come to the ED for pregnancy tests and ongoing pain meds amongst other things is ridiculous. Huge waste of OUR taxpayer money.
I'm trying very hard to not get enraged by these entitled asshats. My answer to her would have been..."I TOLD you these would be ready at 11AM..Please come back then and they will be ready for pick-up. I believe the more often we hurry and rush and try our best to appease them, they more they take advantage of us. And frankly, I'm damn tired of it. PS: If one more person calls Medicaid, their "insurance" I may flip out.
This is so true. We have patients in our office all the time who demand the world because they have medicaid. It is so disheartening. Today one patient was so mad he didn't get a narcotic script that he grabbed the arm of one of our staff and called her names and then called us all wh**e nurses.
what irks me the most as a patient, I am sensitive to a few inactive ingredients in generics and my insurance, which I paid for, will not get covered even after I went through the process.
On the other hand, someone with 6 brats and full on Medicaid who doesn't work, gets all of her meds, brand name.
Hello All,
I have systemic lupus, take many medications which literally keep me alive, and I would not be able to afford those medications were it not for my state "Assistance". I work full-time,study biochemistry and epidemiology full-time, and have been confronted with this unethical behavior toward Medicaid recipients daily. Please understand that by the grossly offensive comments you have posted, you contribute to stigma associated with benefits and are not helping anyone. I receive scholarships, publish research, and when I finish graduate school I will be able to afford "Insurance", since clearly I should be shamed by society though vocabulary. I will also post this thread to my connections on LinkedIn, who, like me, work to improve the lives of those around us though action, not discrimination and complaints. Oh, the Lupus Foundation will also receive this, and as many other acronyms oversee the damaging effects of these attitudes. You are a disgrace to the medical field.
The comment above is a perfect example of the problem. No where does this person show any gratitude for the fact that his/her medications are paid by taxpayers. Instead, here is the typical bad attitude that is growing among the populace.
Since you didn't read the last paragraph, let me copy/paste it here for you again: I have NO PROBLEM with people on Medicaid that are patient and thankful for their medication. I have no problem with people on Medicaid who have no issue with being patient... who understand that it takes time to fill a medication, and that they can't have a 30 day medication every 20 days. But the number of people going on entitlement programs is increasing dramatically and way too many of them are developing a seriously BAD attitude.
Thank you for passing on this blog post. I appreciate the possibility that people will be able to read this and see the annoying entitlement attitude exhibited by Medicaid Mary and people like you. The more people that see this blog post, the more likely people will wake up and eventually, hard-working adults will be able to keep more of their EARNED income instead of having it swiped out of their pocket to fund cry babies like you.
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