Well Shit

So I haven't posted in close to a month, but I swear I have a decent reason. Er... Reasons. Multiple reasons.

At the beginning of the month, I started looking into schools with a pharmacy technician program so that I could learn all I could stuff into my little brain and take the national exam. I found a school that I liked. It was nice, small, with a very small class size and a high graduation and job placement statistic. The only real problem with this was it ended up being too perfect. The classes ran from 8:30am-1pm. I work from 10am-4pm. That doesn't end up working out very well, honestly.

I then took the entrance quizzy thing just for shits and grins because the lady in admissions said it would be nice just in case I could work out my work schedule. I took it, and apparently, I had a high enough score because she jokingly asked if I was sure I didn't want to be in her LPN class instead.

She sent me home with information, and all that jazz for me to look through before I made a decision. Due to a lot of typos in the program catalog she had given me, I ended up on the page for the nursing program instead of the pharmacy technician. I looked it over, discovered it had a night class, and BAM! I'm suddenly looking into nursing instead of pharm tech.

So that was about three weeks ago. I start classes next week. You can see how attempting to prepare for school in three weeks can be a bit time consuming with the financial aid nonsense.

I wish that was all, but at the beginning of this week, my car breaks down. I'm due to start classes next week, I have all of my start up costs in the bank, and my car breaks down. I was so pissed. I brought it into the shop, and called the school to tell them I may have to wait until January because the money I had saved for school is suddenly being thrown into my car instead.

Well, this school is awesome. I was told not to worry about it, they'd find someone who could carpool with me until I get my car fixed, and they can work with me on the start up costs (most of which are for a supplemental anatomy and physiology class). That helped a lot, but between that and not having all of my paperwork completed, I was on the verge of a very large panic attack.

A little background about my car. I got this car last December when my first car developed a case of rust so bad that it couldn't be repaired. I still owe close to four thousand dollars on this thing, so you can see where my panic mode kicked in. I was more worried about suddenly being without a car, but still having loan payments than anything else.

But anyway! Car's fixed, I'm still starting school, and I will hopefully be back to my regular weekly rants next Friday!

Those Little Copay Cards

I really don't like them very much. Purely because a customer will bring it in after their doctor has handed it to them due to lack of insurance, and then we learn that there's a load of super fine print.

Take, for instance, the $4 copay card for Lipitor. Now, Lipitor is fucking expensive. As in, thirty tablets costs you over $100 kind of expensive, so a card that drops the copay to only $4 is practically a godsend for patients whose doctors insist they need Lipitor and not something infinitely less expensive like Simvastatin or any blood pressure medications that fall under the same therapeutic class.

That is, until someone like me attempts to run the damn thing. We then sit there and scratch our heads in confusion at a price of $60 something. That is definitely not $4, so we go to the pamphlet that comes with the card. We read, and read, and read until we finally come across this lovely bit. Let me see if I can't copy/paste this piece from the website.

"To qualify for this offer, your out-of-pocket expense must be greater than $4 per prescription. If your out-of-pocket expenses for a 1-month supply (30 tablets) are $54 or less, you will pay $4 for a 1-month supply. If your out-of-pocket expenses for a 1-month supply (30 tablets) exceed $54, you qualify for up to $50 in savings for a 1-month supply. In either case, you can only qualify for up to $600 of savings per calendar year. After maximum of $600, you will pay usual monthly out-of-pocket costs."

 Note that this isn't written on the card. It says in very large letters "$4 Co-pay Card," but not that your insurance has to pay for a certain amount before they'll drop the copay to $4. It would be nice if customers who are stuck with this were told in advance, but I've noticed a fun trend in doctors just handing out the cards and not going over them with their patients. Despite, you know, how helpful that would be to themselves as well as us because they then have to listen to their customers bitch to them about how expensive the drug they put them on is.

I just feel myself lucky that the man we were working with yesterday was very nice and understanding, if not very (understandably) frustrated.

That Would Make Us Happy, But...

So. It's been about a month since we last saw Miss Switch, and she finally called us up yesterday. I pick up the phone, as I tend to do despite my survival instincts screaming against it, and cringe when she gives me her name. Pharmacy Manager actually looked at me funny because I full-body cringed upon hearing her name.

She wants one of her medications refilled; fine, whatever the fuck will get you out of my eardrums faster. She wants it filled as a ninety day supply instead of thirty because her doctor has decided that it won't kill her; again whatever shuts you up faster. We hang up, I got to poke through her profile a little and face palm.

Her doctor hadn't written the prescription as a ninety day supply. Meaning that even though it still had six refills left on it, we can only fill it for thirty day supplies by law. She came in before we could call her, but Pharmacy Manager, being a much nicer person than myself, called and left a message for her doctor asking that a new script be written for ninety days.

Well she gets there before the doctor called back.

And she threw a butt-hurt bitch-fit to end all.

"What do you mean, I can't fill it for ninety days?! I have six refills on it, don't I?!"

"Yes, ma'am, but because the doctor didn't give us permission to fill for ninety days, we can only dispense in thirty day supplies. That's the law."

"Well if I have six refills left on it, I should be able to get however much I want at one time!!!"

"That's not how that works, ma'am."

"FINE! Call me when the doctor calls back!"

Pharmacy Manager just looks at me and says, "She's a treat, isn't she? I kinda hope we get permission to fill it for ninety days. Not seeing her for three months would be nice."

Well That's Awkward

So one thing they never tell you when you take on a job in the pharmacy: you will see people you know/have known.

It's really not that difficult to imagine, really. People need medications, and that's what you're there to give them with relatively few questions asked if possible. There is, however, going to be a few awkward moments when people you know need to get embarrassing medications. They then know that you know what they're getting.

Take for instance, suppositories. Necessary medications sometimes, but pretty fucking embarrassing when you know the person dispensing them to you personally. I can imagine it would be even more embarrassing if, say... You and your friends were complete and total assholes to the one giving you your prescription ages ago.

Now just take that image, and imagine my absolute glee when I saw the name on the prescription sent to us along side the medication you were receiving. Also imagine my immense amusement as you shift uncomfortably while I ask if you have any questions at all for the pharmacist on your prescription. While you attempt to make smalltalk to diffuse your discomfort, I am trying my damnedest to keep as straight a face as I possibly could, because cackling maniacally is really frowned upon for the most part when dealing with a customer.

Moral of the story? Don't be a dick. When you grow up, the kid you were a dick to is likely going to have access to your most personal of personals. Even if they don't tell anyone because of those foolish things called privacy laws, they'll know, and you'll know they know.

And that will drive you nuts, won't it?