Payment options for medication leaves me scratching my head

So which of these amounts would you think is correct for a 30-day supply of a routine medication that has been around for at least 45 years?

Mark White is Editor of The News Journal.

Is it $16.90, $118, $240, or all of the above?

If you guessed all of the above, then you would be correct for a medication that a family member of mine got filled recently.

One is the amount it would cost filling it by mail order. Another is the amount it would cost paying with the insurance at a local pharmacy. The third amount is what it would cost if you were simply paying cash for the medication at the same local pharmacy.

Logic would seem to dictate that the mail order option would be the cheapest, followed by paying for the medication using your health insurance at the local pharmacy, and that simply paying cash for the medicine, without using any health insurance, would be the most expensive option.

Then again, no one ever accused of the healthcare system of doing things logically.

In this case, it would have cost $240 to get one month’s worth of the medication through mail order. It was going to cost $118 to fill one month’s worth of it using health insurance at the local pharmacy. (My relative has the highest tiered health insurance plan that their employer offers.)

The cheapest option, which was pointed out by the folks at the Prescription Shoppe in Corbin, was $16.90 by simply paying cash for one month’s worth of the medicine.

Sometimes you have to wonder if our healthcare companies went to the same wonderful school of common sense that the federal government uses. (Sarcasm greatly intended in case anyone missed it.)

I’m not sure that I could make up something more stupid if I tried.

Moral of the story here is that sometimes it pays to explore your options.

Now to touch on a few other topics before I conclude this column.

• Based on the social media reaction to our recent story, there seems to be plenty of interest in a welding night class for adults that the Whitley County School District is planning to offer this fall.

I know Superintendent John Siler is hoping to add an electricity adult night class, if the welding class is successful. Hopefully even more technical education classes can be offered for adults in our area.

I’ve long been of the opinion that our society tries to push too many students towards college. The reality is that a skilled trades person can often times make far more money than someone with a college degree.

If someone can come up with some type of financial aid for Whitley County’s new adult learning program, then I think it could be huge for our area.

I, for one, am rooting for this program to be really successful.

• Speaking of the Whitley County School District, let me give a shout out to a couple of new employees there this school year. My former co-worker, Fatemia Fuson, is now working at Whitley County High School as a math teacher and school counselor.

I know she will do great as will now former army recruiter Kirby Jones, who is a new JROTC instructor at the school. Jones has some big shoes to fill replacing Don Gross, but I have the upmost confidence that he is up to the challenge.

• It sounds like the recent Kayaking for Kids race went well again. The event had 75 plus participants and raised over $21,000. The money will go for scholarships for Upward Basketball programs in Corbin and Williamsburg. In addition, the remaining proceeds, which is the bulk of the funds, will also go to the elementary school family resource centers in Whitley County.