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So, I was writing a post, a happy one about oak apples, when the phone rang.
"Is this Susan?" asked a young female voice.
She didn't sound like she was in a roomful of telemarketers, so I went ahead and said, "Yes, who's calling?"
She said, "I'm calling from CVS about some prescriptions that need to be filled." She mentioned a prescription I refill every month and an asthma spray that I stopped using when one day, when I went to pick it up, they wanted something in the range of two hundred dollars rather than the forty I was used to paying, because I'd changed plans within my insurance company and this plan didn't cover it. That was a bummer, but I use a substitute they do cover instead. This happened months ago.
I explained about the asthma spray, and she said, "So, just the other?"
I've got plenty of pills left, so I asked, "Is it that you need to call my doctor in order to be able to refill next time?"
She said, "No, CVS wants patients to be compliant with their meds and wants them to fill their medicines on time."
You know, this makes me angry. It feels like a small moment that is a microcosm of a big, persistent problem in the way health care is perceived and practiced, in my experience. My impression here is that what CVS wants is to make as much money as possible filling prescriptions (and that a rainy fifth of July might be a slow retail day at the drug counter). But, even though they were seeking me out to press me to order drugs that I don't need, the explanation for why they were doing that was framed in terms of concern about my "compliance" or lack thereof.
That's insulting. It's shaming. It's a nasty paternalistic lie which serves as a poor smokescreen for the profit motive. And -- along with the genuine, serious and often skilled desire to help people live fuller, longer, more delicious lives in our mortal bodies -- I feel this kind of shaming disingenuousness as a dangerous element in many of my interactions (most where I am visible as fat) with healthcare.
It's not helpful. And I won't be going in to the drugstore today to pick up a med.
PS I liked this discussion about HAES in![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
deeleigh's journal the other day.
"Is this Susan?" asked a young female voice.
She didn't sound like she was in a roomful of telemarketers, so I went ahead and said, "Yes, who's calling?"
She said, "I'm calling from CVS about some prescriptions that need to be filled." She mentioned a prescription I refill every month and an asthma spray that I stopped using when one day, when I went to pick it up, they wanted something in the range of two hundred dollars rather than the forty I was used to paying, because I'd changed plans within my insurance company and this plan didn't cover it. That was a bummer, but I use a substitute they do cover instead. This happened months ago.
I explained about the asthma spray, and she said, "So, just the other?"
I've got plenty of pills left, so I asked, "Is it that you need to call my doctor in order to be able to refill next time?"
She said, "No, CVS wants patients to be compliant with their meds and wants them to fill their medicines on time."
You know, this makes me angry. It feels like a small moment that is a microcosm of a big, persistent problem in the way health care is perceived and practiced, in my experience. My impression here is that what CVS wants is to make as much money as possible filling prescriptions (and that a rainy fifth of July might be a slow retail day at the drug counter). But, even though they were seeking me out to press me to order drugs that I don't need, the explanation for why they were doing that was framed in terms of concern about my "compliance" or lack thereof.
That's insulting. It's shaming. It's a nasty paternalistic lie which serves as a poor smokescreen for the profit motive. And -- along with the genuine, serious and often skilled desire to help people live fuller, longer, more delicious lives in our mortal bodies -- I feel this kind of shaming disingenuousness as a dangerous element in many of my interactions (most where I am visible as fat) with healthcare.
It's not helpful. And I won't be going in to the drugstore today to pick up a med.
PS I liked this discussion about HAES in
deeleigh's journal the other day.