Thursday, July 23, 2015

Another Open Thread - Help Needed

Again I apologize, but I've got nothing for today. But I do want to refer back to part of Andrew's post of yesterday about Obamacare because we really didn't address it and add a question.

So, my dear Mother called me in a semi-rage earlier this week and wanted me to do research on why one of her persciptions could cost her $225 at one pharmacy (a regional chain pharmacy) and $25 at another pharmacy (Sam's Wholesale/Walmart). Does anyone have any kind of explanation or had a similar experience? I have done some cursory research, but I have not been able to locate much info, or any agency to which she can direct an inquiry. Any help would be appreciated...

Otherwise, let's talk about tiny donkeys!


Okay, true confession, I have kind of an obsession with miniaturized barnyard animals...

21 comments:

Unknown said...

Bev.....Two words: Bulk Buying

Bob

P.S. Hopefully your obsession with barnyard animals is a little different than that of our 'friends' in the Middle East

BevfromNYC said...

Here's something interesting from Judicial Watch:

New Docs show that the IRS used donor lists to target audits...

BevfromNYC said...

Bob - That's what I figured it was. Walmart/Sam's Wholesale actually advertises their bargain rates especially for seniors. Needless to say, my mother has moved her prescriptions to Sam's Pharmacy. Her concern is that she thinks that there are seniors being swindled and/or taken advantage of.

Koshcat said...

There could be several factors at work. The first price may have been for the non-generic or branded product and the lower price was for the generic. Bulk buying. Loss leaders. Also different pharmacies have different contracts with different pharma manufacturers and distributers. Sams may have a contract with X distributer which is giving them a big discount on one drug but not as much for a different one. However, Walgreens has a contract with different mix of rebates and discounts. These are done to do exactly what your mother did - give all her business to one pharmacy. The most savvy shoppers have their prescriptions all over the place to take advantage of price differences but in that scenario is harder for the pharmacies to be able to cross reference all the drugs she is on for potential interactions.

BevfromNYC said...

Koshcat - Thanks. The drug was the same generic drug and the same Ins. carrier (Part D). The other issue is that the refill at Pharmacy A went up dramatically and I surmise that has something to do with...oh, some recent legislation that is stealing from Medicare to fund it. I...just...can't...recall the name. Silly me. ;-)

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, Smaller animals result in mini-foods. Scary!! ;-)

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, I believe the name of the legislation you are looking for is the Omnibus Bush Ruined Everything Act of 2008-2116.

Anthony said...

In an attempt to defend the Confederate Flag, Walter Williams has written two articles praising the Confederacy and attacking Lincoln.

Funny stuff. Its amusing how much he skips over in order to portray the Confederacy as heroes and Lincoln as a power grasping villain.

I am really fascinated by this black Confederate phenomena.
--------------------

http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2015/07/15/historical-ignorance-n2024814

The victors of war write its history in order to cast themselves in the most favorable light. That explains the considerable historical ignorance about our war of 1861 and panic over the Confederate flag. To create better understanding, we have to start a bit before the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
-------
The War of 1861 settled the issue of secession through brute force that cost 600,000 American lives. We Americans celebrate Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, but H.L. Mencken correctly evaluated the speech: "It is poetry, not logic; beauty, not sense." Lincoln said the soldiers sacrificed their lives "to the cause of self-determination -- that government of the people, by the people, for the people should not perish from the earth." Mencken says: "It is difficult to imagine anything more untrue. The Union soldiers in the battle actually fought against self-determination; it was the Confederates who fought for the right of people to govern themselves."

http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2015/07/22/historical-ignorance-ii-n2027721

The Emancipation Proclamation was not a universal declaration. It specifically detailed where slaves were to be freed: only in those states "in rebellion against the United States." Slaves remained slaves in states not in rebellion -- such as Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware and Missouri. The hypocrisy of the Emancipation Proclamation came in for heavy criticism. Lincoln's own secretary of state, William Seward, sarcastically said, "We show our sympathy with slavery by emancipating slaves where we cannot reach them and holding them in bondage where we can set them free."
-------
Why didn't Lincoln share the same feelings about Southern secession? Following the money might help with an answer. Throughout most of our nation's history, the only sources of federal revenue were excise taxes and tariffs. During the 1850s, tariffs amounted to 90 percent of federal revenue. Southern ports paid 75 percent of tariffs in 1859. What "responsible" politician would let that much revenue go?

Koshcat said...

It is necessarily a government conspiracy that leads to higher prices. In the generic world, it is very cut throat with razor thin margins. So what companies try to do is buy out their competition and then be the sole provider. Then they turn around and jack up the price. I thought this sort of practice was illegal but it doesn't seem to have caught anyone's eye.

Anyway, one possibility is Sams club purchased so much of the drug that they don't need to pass on the increase in cost...yet. Oh, but they will they just may do it slowly. If they do it right they could reap huge profit.

Koshcat said...

It isn't necessarily...

*sigh

Anthony said...

Speaking of touchy racial matters, I think the Sandra Bland thing is interesting. I could literally see the change in the cop's demeanor after he asked her why she was irritated and she foolishly, heatedly stated something to the effect of 'because you stopped me!'. From that point forward I knew she was screwed.

I don't think it was a race thing, I think it was a 'talking disrespectfully to a guy who holds your freedom in his hands' thing. Cops have really broad discretion and if a cop wants to f*** you, f***ed you shall be (at least for a while) so do not say anything to them which would put them in a less than happy mood.

Smart black parents drill that lesson into their kids early (yes, I know there are a lot of young people acting foolish in front of cops and for that I blame the parents).

Whatever rights one has are abstract and mean nothing when its just you and the cop. Stand on your rights in court, not on the street.

Anthony said...

On the lighter side of the news, the deck chairs are being rearranged once again at MSNBC. According to the Huffington Post, it will focus more on hard news and less on opinion. Also, there are rumors Olbermann will be back. One can only hope :) .

AndrewPrice said...

Anthony, That whole "the talk" thing that the black media pushes pisses me off. That is the perfect example of lack of awareness leading to people wanting to feel victimized.

Every single white person I know drills the same ideas as in "the talk" (minus the racism) into their kids. If you disrespect a cop, you are taking your life in your hands... no matter what race you are. Being black has nothing to do with it.

BevfromNYC said...

Andrew and Anthony - Yeah, we all got "the talk" too. When we were teenagers, my mother added to "the talk", that if we should ever get arrested for any reason, do not expect them (my parents) to stop what they are doing to bail us out. Of course, this was around the same time the documentary "Scared Straight" came out, so we were pretty well indoctrinated on why we never wanted to get into trouble and what to do if stopped by the police. Be polite and listen to what they say and don't ever talk back.

BevfromNYC said...

Oh, Anthony, I cannot WAIT for Keith Olbermann to come back to MSNBC. Since ESPN didn't remember why they fired Keithie. the first time, I imagine it won't take long for him to screw this one up to and be fired for the 4th time...

And this may be our mext and last chance to actually see his head exploded during the 2016 election night returns!

Anthony said...

Jeb Bush has ridiculed O'Malley for apologizing for 'all lives matter'. That is kind of like Hillary attacking Bobby Jindal or Chris Christie. None of the three have a chance of winning, so why bother? Its like stabbing a corpse. Focus on the threats, not the sideshows.

Anthony said...

Andrew,

In regard to 'the talk', most of us have only one, monoracial set of parents and blacks have a more adverse history with the police than most (recently due to the crimes too many of the community are commiting, in the past due to Jim Crow) so perhaps the black media honestly had no idea the talk was universal.

AndrewPrice said...

Anthony, Unfortunately, it was definitely political because they trotted out all the usual fellow-traveler white leftists who cried crocodile tears about how whites never face this blah blah... because cops are racist.

To me, it was pretty obviously a shameful attempt to further the identity politics narrative that blacks are targets of racism and hate and police violence and whites live in paradise like conditions they deny to blacks.

That's bull though.

The truth is whether or not you go to jail or get shot has nothing to do with race, it's about attitude. And attitude comes from culture/class. People with middle class values rarely go to jail because they don't act hyper-macho and belligerent when they see cops... because their parents taught them to be respectful and to not let their egos get them killed. For the same reason, middle class people don't die in bar fights and don't go hunt each other down in drive-bys when they get offended.

But a certain part of our culture (a part which includes members of all races except Asians apparently) does this and they are the ones who spend their lives in and out of prison or get shot by cops. This is what you see in the inner cities and in places like trailer parks. You also see it with a lot of athletes and rappers... and reality TV stars.

AndrewPrice said...

BTW, On Bland, they reported yesterday that she had been suicidal in the past. And the autopsy has apparently shown 30 prior cuts on her wrists, no evidence of being attacked, and lots of pot in her system.

AndrewPrice said...

Also, Trump is threatening a third party run... as they always do.

Anthony said...

It was always clear to me Bland was a suicide. A cop would have to be pretty crazy to go and hang someone in a jail what with all the cameras around.

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