Dear Big Insurance Company, Please Charge a Fair Price for Prescriptions

Where do I find $100 to pay for a medicine that just last month cost us $7? This hike in price happened because Charlie's in The Donut Hole.

After racking my brain on how to come up with a Benjamin for a month's supply of Trazodone (it's an old antidepressant that's rarely used because it makes folks sleepy but that's why Charlie uses it as a sleep aid), I remembered that back in January before he had any type of prescription coverage we bought a month's worth of Trazodone for about $48. Why was there such a big jump?

The prescription in January was for 120 100mg tablets. His current script is for 30 300mg tablets. But still? I decided to call Charlie's GP and talk to his nurse, Doris. I explained to her that I'd like to get a prescription for Trazodone and take it to a pharmacy that didn't know anything about Charlie's insurance. She also thought it strange a medication would cost more with coverage than without. Doris agreed to check with the doctor and call it in to CVS for us.

When we picked up the 120 100mg tablets the charge was $40.26, including tax. Even cheaper than what we paid in January! Much cheaper than what using his insurance would have cost us. Granted, he'll have to swallow three tablets instead of one at bedtime but the savings is tremendous. Plus there are 10 pills left over. A little lagniappe as we say in Louisiana. (Kathryn)