Today I picked up a $45 nasal inhaler at the pharmacy and paid $15. Then I went to the vision center and picked up 12 pairs of contact lenses*, whose total value including the consultation fee is just under $200, and paid nothing. I realize that insurance is one of the great evils of the twenty-first century because it artificially raises prices on products and services that would otherwise cost much less, but it can't be all that bad if it's saving me money, right? Because it's all about me. Right?
Of course, I did have to pay an exorbitant fee for the insurance premium, and the only reason I feel like I'm getting my money's worth out of that exorbitant fee is because of above-noted artificially-raised prices. So maybe insurance is evil, even if it is all about me. (Which it is.)
But at the moment I'm just happy to get a free year's supply of contacts and a nasal inhaler at 66% off.
*I've been trying a different brand of lenses that are coated with slimy moisture-retaining goo that keeps them from drying out, and they're much better than any lenses I've worn before. Sometimes it even feels like I'm wearing nothing at all. Nothing at all!
So what brand/style of contacts is this? What should my son ask for if he wants to try them?
ReplyDeleteDitto to Mary's question. I can only wear my contacts for about 2 hours before I looked totally stoned. Which is really not good for when I pick up my three children from school. :)
ReplyDeleteThe contacts are called Acuvue Oasys [sic] with Hydraclear Plus, and they're made by those fine purveyors of all things toiletry, Johnson & Johnson. I'm pretty sure it's the Hydraclear Plus part that makes them work.
ReplyDeleteOur health care system is broken, people! (I should run for political office, I sound so... candidate-like)
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that we've managed to obscure all consequences of the way people use health resources. I see people in the ER for a headache or a pregnancy test--because they won't ever pay a dime and they're too lazy and impatient to make an appointment with any other doctor. The cost of care jacks up the cost of insurance, the cost of insurance decreases our salaries at work, and so we all inadvertently spend money we would never otherwise spend on stupid little things. Ok. I'll stop making this comment into it's own post now.