A little taste of ginger

 

1. Ah .... Julia Stiles. She look great with short hair. I think of the two, the better shot is one without the smile.

   another long day. Neighbor friend came over and drove me to market and mostly to the pharmacy for some meds for wife. But they weren’t there. They didn’t even know anything about em.  Refill? What refill? We don’t got to show you no refill.
   So came home and then had to call in to doc office and get duty doc to return call which was 4:30 or thereabouts.
   When I once tried to explain the American system, their eyes all glaze over.

   Posted by peiper       05/11/2012  at  12:42 PM  



2. Isn’t this the future already? You ought to be able to scan a barcode or one of those scanners squares on the label with your cellphone or i-device and automatically order the refill to your local chemist, with a “pills in stock” queuing confirmation text message returned in about ... oh, a quarter of a second. Bip! Done. Let’s go pick them up.

   Here in my rural corner of NJ, there are scanner codes in the newspaper for the various lunch items at the local franchise pizza shop. Scan. Bip! Done. Go pick them up, or scan the “free home delivery” box if your order totals >$X. You don’t even have to input your address; your phone knows and sends this information. Probably charges it to a credit card too, or ATM card, so no actual cash on hand is necessary.

   On the one hand that lack of data privacy is a little shocking. On the other hand, it sure is fast and easy.
   

   Posted by Drew458       05/12/2012  at  06:39 AM  



3. peiper,

   I sympathize with you. I’m on a lot of meds for my heart and my wife for her breast cancer. I get a 6-month repeat prescriptions in the States bring them to RiteAid and it goes into their computer. I never see paper till 6-months are past. Every month I call in, get a computer recording, punch in the perscription numbers and they’re ready the next day. My medical plan from the company I’m retired from covers almost 80-90% of the cost and that amounts to about $60 per month.

   And I can go to any RiteAid drug store in the entire United States and they can access my records and dispense the meds without any hassle.

   In Ireland we are on the HSE drug plan which costs €132 ($175) per month max. So deduct $60 from $175 and you see I’m out $115 in Ireland. But I have no choice since my heart will stop if I stop my medication. Plus we have to use the same “Chemist” since the HSE has no computer to link the prescription plan throughout the country.

   Therefore if we have already paid our chemist the €132 for the month and we’re in another part of the country and need drugs we must pay for the drugs and fill out lots of paper work and hope to get re-embursed in 6 or 8 months.

   Posted by New Jersey Yankee       05/12/2012  at  10:09 AM  



4. Ireland, like Wales, seem just 2 steps and a light bulb from the stone age sometimes.

   Posted by Drew458       05/12/2012  at  10:55 AM  

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