The wonderful world of prescription insurance

A month ago, I increased the dosage of Emsam from 6mg/24hrs to 9mg/24hrs. When I picked up the first prescription, there was no co-payment; the cost of the drug was fully covered. Today I went to the pharmacy for the refill and learned that the co-payment was/is $125. (The medications full price is $540 or so.) My psychiatrist had been concerned that the medication wouldn't be covered and that he'd have to write a lengthy justification for the prescription. After the first successful order, it didn't seem as though we'd have a problem. Apparently, we do.

I expect to be on the phone for quite a while on Monday morning. Even though I don't always think clearly because of the depression, I still have a pretty good brain. There are lots of folks who have a lot less money and whose mental illness(es) have done much more damage; they have many fewer options when dealing with something as weird as this.