Casa Grande, AZ: Good Thing I Like Chinese Food!

Last November when I was in Maryland, my doctor changed my medicine and I was due for a 3 month follow-up and lab tests. Normally I don't bother with the three month follow-up however one of the new medicines was not covered by my insurance. It cost $175 for a one month supply.

The irritating part of this story is the pharmacists at two different locations kept telling me about 4 different alternatives that were available at Walmart/Walgreen's etc for about $5 per month.

When I called my doctor and asked them to change the prescription they refused until I had a three month follow-up. Actually the young man who gave me the new (& expensive) prescription was not a doctor; he is a physician's assistant (PA). I'm not sure of the exact differences between a doctor and a PA however experience and judgement appear to be a big differentiators.

In the past my doctors had been quick to work with me for changes to prescriptions for myself and/or my family. That however, didn't happen with this PA; he refused to make any changes.

So I prepared myself for the (usually) difficult process of seeing another doctor and getting lab work performed.

Except, it wasn't difficult at all here in Arizona. I guess they have so many snowbirds here who need occasional medical appointments the process is much easier.

Mary Lynn searched for a doctor covered by our insurance, found one located about half a mile from where we are staying, made an appointment, and bingo, problem solved. I explained the problem (expensive medicine) and he wrote me the new prescriptions right away and a prescription for the lab work. Turns out lab work is done at the hospital from 6:30 am to 5 pm daily, no appointment necessary.

The only appointment available today was at two so I didn't get to water volleyball until about 3:30 pm however that's a small price to pay to save $170/month.

Which got me to thinking about medical care for the many, mostly older, snowbirds that flood Arizona every year. While the services appear to accommodate their wandering lifestyle, what about the costs?

Many of the snowbirds here in Arizona are on fixed pensions. The financial mess we find ourselves in had been especially hard on them. I'm not talking about me; I'm young enough I could still go back to work if need be. However, many of my fellow snowbirds are older and unable to return to the workforce. Nor do they have the luxury of time to wait for their investments to recover. And there have been no 'safe havens' during this downturn. Stock, bonds, & real estate have all been dramatically reduced while CD's & money markets return little or no interest.

Meanwhile AIG gets another $30B while announcing a $62B quarterly loss, bring the taxpayers total bailout, just for AIG, to $160B (that's 160 BILLION dollars)! I don't get it.

But mostly I don't understand what our elected officials are doing for those retirees who see their ability to enjoy retirement greatly diminished after years of hard work and saving. These are not people who failed to save for retirement, these are hardworking citizens who played by the rules and are getting burned.

I don't know what the solution is; everyone in charge at these companies has absolved themselves of any responsibilities. Politicians are too busy blaming leaders of the other political party and Obama is spending money like there is no tomorrow. Our kids, who are already challenged to enjoy the same standard of living many of us enjoyed, will be paying on this debt all of their lifetimes.

Not to mention we are borrowing all of these trillions of dollars from China.

Better break out the English-to-Mandarin phrase books, we are going to need them.

Good thing I like Chinese food!

See Ya!