Granpaw's Journal

A lame title I know, I can’t think of a better one…
I would imagine that a male enhancement drug or sexual arrousal drug such as the ones mentioned in the spam ads that are sent to me hundreds of times daily are not cheap…They must cost at least nearly as much as Chantix. Yet the emails say I can get them FREE!
Two years ago I tried to get Chantix from medicare (whatever card they gave me at the time), after all isn’t smoking a medical problem for pete’s sake???
After beau coup dealings and many jumps through numerous hoops, this last spring, I finally got a free prescription of Chantix…The starter pack…That’s all, just the starter pack!
Aw what is the point?

Well the first has come and gone and still I’m not…quite….smoke free…yet.
still trying though.
Chantix has run out and no refills left, but in retrospect I don’t think I need them anymore.

The one thing I’ve found about my quitting after so long (50 years) is… Smoking to alay stress is my greatest stumbling block.
The second greatest block is lack of anything else to do.

This is getting close to being a done deal folks…
I’m going through a pack every two-three days now instead of one a day..
This is a bit of a let-down from the first round when I was down to three or four smokes a day…
I’m anticipating being totally smoke free by the first of April.
This time there are no strange dreams or other side effects, unless I count not being able to get to sleep very well and then when I do drop off I awaken at the least noise and am wide awake. I have become accustomed to sleeping a lot during the day now.

About a week later I’m on day four of my latest bout with the tobacco companies… I know the Chantix will work this time the only question I have is will it work IN time?

I don’t know exactly what is causing this congestion in my lungs, could be this environment (the Northwoods) and the dampness in the air, could be what I eat, most likely is a combination of all of that coupled with the emphysema I have from smoking for so long.

What I am sure of, is that I will not last another winter being able to move around without the use of an oxygen bottle, if I continue smoking.
I also wonder if they are correct when they tell me once you quit, your lungs get better.

I hope so…

After that pre-mentioned denial letter from Healthnet
I took the papers into the Doctors office just to show them what was going on.
I left the letter with the receptionist and sat down to wait for the wife to get done with her appointment.

About a half hour later, while outside in the truck (smoking), the Nurse practitioner found me and showed me the latest letter they had just got faxed to them, is was an approval for the Chantix!..
A huge sigh of relief later, I thanked her again for everything they had been doing on this since April 2009!.

After I got home I checked the mail and lo and behold…another letter from Health net telling me I’m now approved…WHAT???

Don’t get me wrong dear reader, I will start the Chantix and quit smoking but one can only wonder at the futility of trying to get drugs from this outfit…I mean what if it had been life and death?? well actually it is…

And further, what if they had not given me the Chantix? would they then cover the oxygen in a few months..?

Actually this is the third post in an on going fight I have with the so-called health care system.

First let me explain that I am not complaining about the people here in the local Price County Commission on aging department. They are both helpful and concerned about the welfare of the community and those in it.

I am referring to whatever lame brained individual sits behind a desk out in Kalifornication and denies prescriptions to people.

Long read

I am a long time smoker, aged 65 on Medicare, I went a Doctor and got a prescription for Chantix, I had tried the patch, nothing helped so far.
I haven’t the willpower to quit on my own.
The pharmacy said the Chantix wasn’t covered by the medicare card that I had then, that was April of 2009.
So I continued smoking untill around November of 2010, when I got a partial prescription of Chantix from a freind who couldn’t take it, It worked for me!

The first week went well with some bad dreams, but I got down to one cig a day from a pack a day.
Then, the inevitable…the prescription ran out.
I can’t afford the stuff at that price so I went back to medicare and got a card that was supposed to cover it, (Healthnet) I then called the pharmacy to ask about that prescription, they told me it was still active and I should drive the 20 miles to town to get it.

When I got there they told me they would have to check with the card company to see how they wanted to handle it…they’d let me know.

Meanwhile, I signed up on the Wisconsin quit line and talked to a help person on the phone about my case and went through all the hoops to get the Chantix as that is all that works for me.

SO, a week later I get the denial letter from Healthnet, the reason for denial was…. I hadn’t signed up on a help line!.
That was late on a Friday, Saturday I got the letter from the Quitline showing that I had signed up and talked to a helper….Monday I called the card company and told them that I had signed up and had proof in my hands, they told me to have the clinic fax them a copy of the letter of proof and a copy of the letter of denial, which I did.

I eagerly waited to hear from them until today, the 22nd. when I get a letter that says they deny the Chantix because…
I didn’t have a doctor tell them about any alternatives I had tried, etc…yada yada….

…I don’t have to have prescriptions yet to stay alive…
what about the ones who do???

You’d think that the State of Wisconsin, who’s Governor raised the price of tobacco to it’s present day sky-high level, would want to help smokers to quit the vile habit..

Don’t they tell you that you are killing your children and everyone within breathing distance of you.

Didn’t they make it illegal to smoke in most public places.

Rumor has it, smoking will soon be illegal in your own home and/or vehicle if you have small children aboard…

I imagine they tell children in school that their obviously stupid parents who smoke, (if they do), don’t care about anything but themselves, and should be admonished and/or nagged until they give it up or go insane which ever comes first.

Having been a smoker for longer than I can remember, I have quit smoking for any reason you can throw at me… to no avail.., I simply do not have the will power to quit on my own.

I can tell you first hand how the Government provided cheap smokes to the military, and still does so as far as I know.

I can also tell you how hard it is to get any real help from that same Government.

They will gladly talk to you on the phone about how you really should set a date for quitting and stick to it….about how they have people who will call you back to let you know they are “with you” in your struggle.

I happened onto a partial Chantix prescription recently…It worked folks!…for the time it took to get the stuff in my system, then it ran out…

I went to the doctor and got a prescription of my own…took it to the pharmacy and lo and behold….My card didn’t cover Chantix…I am on Soc. Sec. retired so it should be no problem to arrange payment right?? wrong!…
That was Spring 2009..

This Winter 2010…the prescription is still at the pharmacy,
I got a new card, which I made sure Chantix was covered in full…no charge. Then I called the pharmacy (long distance) to see if the prescription was still good….
Oh sure…it’s good till June (2010) cmon in and get it…
I drove the 20 miles to the pharmacy and proudly gave them my new card…
“Wait while we put the info into the system”…sure no problem….
“Do you want the starter pack?”
Uh yes I suppose that would be good.
“We’ll have to get the card company to tell us what they want to do about this prescription”…what???
“Yes, they, (the card company), need to ok the transaction”…”it will not be right away either”
“You can buy it today if you’d like”…It’s only a hundred and some dollars”

LADY!!! If I could afford it I would have gotten it last year!!!
“Well the card company will have to tell us if the prescription is going to be paid for”

That round was about 2 weeks ago…
About a week ago my doctor got me on the phone and told me the card company was requireing proof that I have signed up on the Wisconsin hot line before they will pay for the Chantix….Ok…did that… then went throught the hoops about how I should really set a date for quitting and Yada yada yada….

The person on the hot line was really helpful and polite, but didn’t know enough about my struggles with the system so far…She promised to send proof that I had signed up and talked to her, so now I await the proof….We’ll see if the State will come through or not….
I personally think the Government is buying time to get the public to cry out for a Social Health plan..

.The average retired senior is inundated with red tape and confusion when it comes to their health care in this country.