Anger over Insurance

So I’m leaving for Kenya in five days. I’m trying to take care of all of those pre-trip details like packing, insurance and international calling cards. I dropped off a prescription for anti-malaria pills last Saturday at the Target pharmacy. I told them I would stop by the next day to pick them up. No rush.

Around 3 p.m. I get a phone call. Sorry we can’t fill your prescription without prior approval. So the pharmacy faxed a letter to the doctor telling them to send a note to my insurance explaining why I need the pills and to have the insurance company tell the pharmacy to fill the prescription. Of course, because it is Saturday no one is there. Thankfully, I don’t need to start taking the pills until this Saturday so I’m not too worried.

Monday morning rolls around. I bypass the doctor and call the insurance company.

Me: I received a call from my pharmacy saying that anti-malaria pills wouldn’t be covered.

Customer Service Rep: Why is the medication being prescribed?

Me: Umm, to keep me from getting malaria?

Customer Service Rep: So you don’t have malaria?

Me: No, not presently.

Customer Service Rep: Well, I’m sorry, but we will only cover that medication if it is being used for the treatment of malaria. Any preventative medication is not covered.

We get off the phone. I call the pharmacy. Yes, I can pick up the pills if I am willing to shell out $170. GREAT!

What really bothers me is that this makes no sense. Wouldn’t it be cheaper for the insurance company to pay some portion of the $170 to cover the anti-malaria pills than the actual treatment of malaria? (It’s not like they ever completely cover the cost of a medication.) I mean we aren’t talking about someone getting a cold or something insignificant. Malaria kills between 1 and 3 million people a year and causes disease in about 400 million.

Were someone to be infected, you are talking about doctor’s visits, possibly time in the hospital and medications. We are talking about thousands of dollars in treatment that could be avoided if people were able to have access to preventative medications.

What can I do?

I have to suck it up and spend the money to get the pills.

Burmese Yum!

Last night, I met a friend for dinner at the Mandalay Restaurant and Café in Silver Spring. We had a wonderful time catching up and the food was excellent.

We started off with spring rolls which were scrumptious. Then we tried the
KyetThar ALoo Masala Hin, which had chicken and lightly fried potato in onion-tomato curry with masala spice. I would definitely recommend going at least for the medium heat on this dish.

We also had the sliced pork sautéed with sliced bamboo and onion. Of course we had to have the coconut rice (also highly recommended) and a Blue Moon beer. It was practically a feast.

I can’t think of a better way to spend a Thursday night!

To the Person Who Hit My Car

Dear Driver of the SUV or Truck that hit my car,

Yes, that CRUNCH you heard when you backed up was the door of my car.

While, I understand that you must have been in a hurry or didn’t feel like dealing with an insurance claim or the cost of repairing an 18 inch dent, I must say that I wasn’t in the mood to deal with those things either. I would have greatly appreciated the common courtesy of leaving me a note.

What I am sure that you didn’t realize is that I am completely unable to use the front driver’s side door and with the size and location of the dent I am also no longer able to roll down my window. I have to say it was quite amusing when I needed to get the ticket to enter the long-term parking lot at the airport and when I needed to pay the cashier to exit the lot when I returned from my trip.

I understand there is a certain amount of risk parking my car on the street. Yes, I expected some scratches and a ding or two, but I was completely surprised by this. I guess I figured that a big, red car was pretty hard to miss. Lesson Learned.

Sincerely,

Katie

Thursday 13 # 22 - Another Trip

My To Do List 1. Pick up Father's Day gift. 2. Figure out exactly what the Father's Day gift will be. 3. Do Laundry. 4. Pack. 5. Complete online check in for my flight to Ohio tomorrow. 6. Design Bride Bingo boards. 7. Assemble the "Wedding Wish" cards for Jenny's shower. 8. Pick up prizes for shower games. 9. Get gas for my car so I can drive to BWI tomorrow. 10. Make sure that my phone and iPod are charged. 11. Buy batteries for my camera. 12. Watch Little Miss Sunshine so I can return it to Khara. 13. Go to the gym.

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Good Friend, Good Wine

What a delightful weekend I had! My friend Sarah came down to visit from NYC and we had a very relaxing few days.

Saturday we walked from my apartment down to King Street, then down to the water, then up Duke Street to Fayette and then back to my apartment. Upon return it was time to hit the pool and cool off. We hung out at the pool for a few hours before we realized we were getting a little too pink and had to go back inside.

We finished our Saturday with a trip to Target and Whole Foods to get dinner supplies. Van was gracious enough to make steaks stuffed with brie and fresh crabmeat and Sarah sautéed veggies. My contribution – well, I picked out the wine.

I picked up a bottle of Francis Coppola’s Diamond Series Claret. The wine was excellent and very reasonably priced. It was a great pairing with the steak.

Sarah and I braved the rain on Sunday for brunch and Bread and Chocolate, one of our old favorites. We warmed up with hot coffee and breakfast pannis. Yum!

Unfortunately, Sarah had to go back, but I can’t wait for our next weekend visit.

One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer

Okay, it was really one Bourbon, one Scotch (single malt) and one really tasty glass of wine. Anyway, I digress. Last night I had an impromptu lesson in the finer points of bourbon and scotch. Here is what I learned:

Bourbon is an American form of whiskey made in Bourbon County, Kentucky. Typically 70 percent corn and the remainder being wheat and/or rye and malted barley, Bourbon is aged for four years.

Barley is always the grain used in Scotch and “single” indicates that all the malts in the bottle came from the same distillery. Most single malt Scotch is aged 10 years.

So what did I think?

Well, the Bourbon was excellent, very smooth and was quite enjoyable, but I liked the Scotch better.