So much for great State benefits! PEHP (the company that provides health insurance to State employees) has made a lot of changes to their plans this year due to the economy. First off, my premium went from 2% to 5% (okay I still only pay about $18 a month so I'm not going to complain). And, office copays increased by $5. I guess I can handle that. But here are the things I CANNOT handle:
- ER visits increased from $75 to $150. Let's screw all the people who are most in need!
- Drugs for the treatment of nail fungus will no longer be covered because it "is considered cosmetic." Now I've never had a nail fungus, but I can imagine that you would want it gone for more than cosmetic reasons.
- Oral and nasal antihistamines will no longer be covered because "availability of antihistamines as over-the-counter drugs is increasing." If this is their argument, why do we even buy insurance at all? Why don't we just buy everything over the counter?
and the kicker...
- Drugs for enuresis (bedwetting) will no longer be covered because they are "not a medical necessity." Are you seriously shitting me right now? Let's punish the children. It's totally fine to let kids piss all over themselves. They may not be MEDICALLY necessary, but they sure as hell are necessary for good MENTAL HEALTH! PEHP is going to end up paying tons more in therapy services in the long run -- for these kids AND for their parents. And society is going to pay for this new policy through an increase in bullying, depression, and more Suleyman Taloviches.
Do you know who gets the most screwed over? People with disabilities. I know mostly because of my work. If your kid's diagnosis is autism, they will not pay for speech pathology or occupational therapy because they don't know if "they are beneficial treatment." But if a kid has chronic ear infections he/she can qualify for speech pathology. Yeah. WRONG.
ReplyDeleteP.S. That is the most disgusting picture I have ever seen!