Well, so much for the National Association of the Self Employed as a resource for Health Insurance. Thhhummp! ( is that a good approximation of the "bronx cheer" sound?) They won't insure me because I take medication for asthma and depression. Okay....now, I realize that insurance is legalized gambling, and I could even understand being turned down for health insurance based on all the trouble with my back & my heart defect. But, I didn't even get that far. And I really wonder what is on the mind of these actuaries. Do they sit there and say to themselves, "Hmm, lets insure people that we have no idea what's wrong with on account of they haven't been to the doctor for 20 years but exclude people who are taking medicines that control the known minor illnesses that they have." Is this a way to make money for these companies? Well, I guess it is, otherwise they wouldn't be doing it.....

So, it's starting to dawn on me that I, at least, am probably not going to be able to obtain regular health insurance....a good thing for me to know before I set my rates. ( see Mom! It's working! I'm looking for the freaking bright side here!!) The Hub might be able to get it, but I decided to find out how much our medications would be if we were only able to get catestrophic insurance and had to pay for the medications ourselves. Insurance quotes for the two of us that I was getting, contingent upon acceptance, were about $300 per month. The medications are about $525 a month. Significant, but perhaps not insurmountable.

Of course, it was just like pulling teeth to get this information from the local pharmasist. The one at the Rite Aid in the 140 Villiage Shopping Center. And probably everybody in The County knows him. He's an old crumudgeon that's been there forever who skates through his day acting extremely put upon anytime anybody asks him a question. He's rude, slovenly in his work habits, and unprofessional "Tea!! That's gonna be $X for your *Brand Name Depression Medication*" he once yelled, literally, at the top of his lungs accross the pharmacy, causing everybody in the store to stare at me. But that day I wasn't in any mood to fight. Today I was. This time when I asked him to repeat something and he told me, petulently, that he was "too busy to answer all these questions for me" I told him that I was his customer and he was getting paid to answer every question I had for him. If it was too much trouble I could take my business across the street. He said that was fine with him....but, my guess is that it wouldn't be fine with the pharmacy supervisor, whose number I tracked down and to whom I made a detailed complaint.

Not that it'll do any good. Privilaged man of a privilaged generation he probably looks at his supervisor as "some girl trying to tell him what to do" and pharmacy positions are hard to fill. But that doesn't mean I have to spend $525 of my money at Rite Aid and I won't.