Forest of the Plains

I wrote this a couple of weeks ago. Somehow in between caring for a sick son and a sick husband, I forgot to post it...

Three weeks ago I saw a sign in WalMart that said, "Zyrtec Coming Soon!" I thought that was odd. Surely the pharmacy had been able to fill Zyrtec for a long time, since it has been on the market for many years? I didn't dwell on it and continued on my way.

Also three weeks ago, I asked my PCP for a refill for my Zyrtec-D prescription. She provided one, no problem.

Two weeks ago I received two letters in the mail on the same day. One from my insurance company and one from my mail order pharmacy company - both informing me that Zyrtec-D is now available over the counter and my insurance will stop covering it starting February 1.

"Well golly gee, " I thought. Actually, no, that's the complete opposite of what I thought. How is it that I see so many medical professionals on a regular basis and know so many medical professionals very well, and I had no idea that Zyrtec OTC was looming on the horizon? I asked a couple of friends about this. They had assumed that surely I knew since I generally am a well informed consumer of health care. A logical assumption.

Next I went back to WalMart to see if they had Zyrtec in stock and hoping that the cost of this new version would be cheaper than my prescription costs. WalMart was out of stock of Zyrtec-D OTC and the equivalent store brand. I did learn that the store brand cost of Zyrtec-D OTC is $19.95 for 24 pills. 24 pills = 12 days.

I did some quick math. The price I paid for Zyrtec-D prescription was $99.79 for a 90 day supply. $20 for 12 days versus $100 for 90 days. Great. An extra $50 every 90 days. For both John and me. We already pay about $200 per month for prescriptions, so this price increase for an over the counter medication feels defeating. That one-time $5 off coupon from the insurance company just isn't going to offset the increase in price!

I held off buying the new OTC, hoping that I would get a last filling of Zyrtec-D prescription from the mail order pharmacy. Today I received a package from the pharmacy. They had filled two other scripts, but there was not even a mention of my Zyrtec-D script.

added today: The pharmacy did eventually mail back my now-useless script. Next week John has an appointment with the allergist. I wonder what he'll say?