Us One, Insurance Zero!

For PM's asthma, he has been using a medication called Xoponex since he was a baby. By baby, I mean before he was even one year old! Well, imagine my surprise when two weeks ago I went to get a new prescription filled for it only to discover that we needed a prior authorization. I absolutely had to get it for him, so I paid full price for one box (which lasted about a week) at $86.99. After many telephone calls to both the doctors office and the insurance company, I found out that the insurance company, in their infinite wisdom, has listed for him to "try" albuterol first and then if that doesn't work they can get Xoponex. WTF! I am NOT "trying" a medication that affects his ability to breathe when I know this drug works and he has been using it for this long. So, after much work, the prior authorization went through and I was able to finally get a whole whopping 21 days supply for $30. Of course, we are about halfway through that and now I need to get a refill, but oh well. At least he can breathe!