Paxlovid Costs How Much?!?

 

So Mark and I both have COVID, first time for both of us - fully vaccinated, were going to get our booster September 1st.  

Mark got it worse than me, sore throat, GI stuff, etc., I got nasal congestion, but we both got the high fevers and achiness - fun!

(Then again, I'm two days behind him so who knows what's coming).

However, clearly even though the vaccine was near its wear-out time, it clearly DID mitigate the severity of COVID for both of us, yay!🙂

So I'm singing Pfizer's praises on this one - oh, but wait for the opposite on Paxlovid below.

But first, if you've never had COVID, which we hadn't, I highly recommend you do fever/pain reducers and decongestants on a schedule round the clock.  Mark didn't and I did, and it has also made a huge difference between us. 

So anyway, he started getting back pain and slight congestion on Tuesday night, had a slight cough by Wednesday and temperature  of 100F Wednesday night, 101.5F and tested positive on Thursday morning.

(I followed the same pattern, but with no cough, temperature going up to 100 by Friday afternoon, 101.5 by Friday night, positive test yesterday morning.)

So we called into the doctor get Paxlovid for him to shorten the time, since he's had a previous stroke.  They had him see someone in telehealth to verify he had COVID, then she prescribed it. 

Upon calling the pharmacy to check the cost before they prepared it,  we discovered PAXLOVID COSTS $166 WITH INSURANCE!

 

Me:  "Are you freaking kidding me? If we are paying $166, despite us having private insurance, how much is Pfizer charging without it? Um ... no, thank you lol."  

 

Pharmacist:  "Right?  And would you believe it costs $300 if you have Medicare?" 

 

Me:  "That's dang near criminal - people over 65 are who need it most and have the least to spend, they're on a fixed income!"

 

Pharmacist:  "I know, right?  I'm so sorry."  

 

Me: "No worries, it's not your fault.  I think we'll just bite the bullet and go through it.  It's not like it's a cure, just a shortener.  We're not paying for it based on on pure principle, and I doubt we're the only ones.  If no one uses their product then they'll have to reduce the cost to make any money at all on it.  Thanks so much for your time anyway, sorry for any trouble." 

 

Pharmacist:  "No worries, we hadn't started it yet.  And no, you're not the only ones."  

Middle-class/working-class Republicans?

I know you're scared of any sort of price control as being socialist, but would you at least consider it for healthcare/pharmaceuticals?  

We pay at least 3x more for medications than the rest of the world pays, sometimes up to 10x more - it's just ridiculous.

You don't want to pay more taxes, but do you understand that we are essentially paying for the rest of the world's pharmaceuticals, by paying these corporations exorbitant prices? 

Not just the country, but the world.

They overcharge us compared to everybody else, so we're supplying all their profit so the rest of the world with socialized healthcare can get it for cheap. 

Please understand that when you support the Republican Party's platform, you are supporting less taxes for wealthy corporations and their executives. 

All of this other fearmongering regarding religion, race, gender, etc. is just to distract you from that fact and keep voting for it.

If you want to complain about inflation, that's fine, we all do - but  do realize presidents literally have nothing to do with that.

And if they DID try to do something about it, you'd scream socialism, now wouldn't you? 😉