HEALTH

Death by Prescription

A grieving father's vow to educate families on the dangers in their own medicine cabinets.

Newsweek Web Exclusive

Jun 26, 2008 | Updated: 11:46 a.m. ET Jun 26, 2008

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Posted By: Nins @ 07/06/2008 11:47:40 PM

Comment: Did you know that if McCain is elected you will have to pay income tax on the value of the medical insurance that your employer gives you? Worse still, he is offering a tax break for people who pay their own insurance, BUT only $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families.

Let's say you have a family of four. Your insurance policy costs would be at least $1,500-2,500 per month under a self-pay plan, which cost more than employer group plans. So, you pay $18,000 -$30,000 per year for insurance, and you get to deduct only $5,000 of that. If you paid $25,000 for you insurance, you would be out of pocket $20,000 per year. This is FAR WORSE than the current system, where if you are self employed you can deduct 100% of you medical insurance costs.

So, if you're not self employed, you would stick with your Employer's plan. Employer plans for a family of four have a value of $900-$1,500 per month totaling 10,800-$18,000 per year. Surprise! On April 15th, you owe tax on all of that as INCOME to you. Say your bracket is 25%, and the value of your Employer medical plan is $14,000. You will OWE THE IRS an additional $3,500, and that's ON TOP of whatever monthly premium you already pay to your employer for your insurance.

Many analysts say that McCain's new rules would encourage employers to stop offering health benefits. If that happened, then far fewer Americans would be insured than are insured today, because what family of four can afford $18,000-$30,000 out of pocket per year for self-pay health insurance?

Furthermore, McCain's plan does not require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions of people who self-pay their insurance. People under employer group plans have all of their pre-existing conditions covered. This is a hugely unfair aspect of the current system. Insurance companies can afford to cover the pre-existing conditions of the much larger pool of people with group insurance, but they refuse to pay the pre-existing conditions on the smaller pool of self-pay customers. They have been allowed to price gouge the self-pay customers, which is a form of market manipulation that should be illegal.

So let's say one of your kids had diabetes and you have high blood pressure, then your employer stops offering insurance. You now have to buy your own, but you and your child are INELIGIBLE due to pre-existing conditions. Oh, yeah, they will let you buy the insurance, but you can't use it for any pre-existing condition until you have paid on time every month for two years. And you know what happens at one year and 11 months? You get a letter saying your policy has been cancelled. I have many patients this has happened to.

McCain's plan SUCKS.

It does nothing to help middle class working Americans afford or obtain medical insurance. In fact, it makes the current system WORSE.
Posted By: observer101 @ 06/28/2008 5:56:08 PM

Comment: These kids know enough nowadays that prescription are just as bad as the illegal ones...What evers cheap and popular is the name of the teen popularity game...And alot of adults definatley do this crap too. I have a family member that steals pills when she finds out anyone in the family has "codone" anything...I dont see how parents wouldnt notice the kids change in behavior...When ppl are on that stuff and abusing it the noses turn red, they constantly are rubbing there noses (itching sensation)or are sleeping or nauseated most of the time constantly...SO its mostly the parents responsibility to check there meds, and know MOST of the time where and what there kids are doing...Always remember THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A TRUTHFUL TEEN! They always lie and sneak to outwit there parents..Yes even straight A teens lie there socks off...So watch the kids more stringently and this will less likely happen...Question: How can you tell if a teenager is lying? Answer: Every time they open there mouth....Trust nothing suspect everything...A parent should have keyloggers on there computers. If they sense the kid is acting abnormal then check what theyve been typing..They cant help but to type openly to there friends eventually about what they are up to...and thats when you catch them...I personally have found out stuff my kid was up to and good thing I did...Now he thinks twice about doing something and wondering if I will find out...Its called parenting!
Posted By: EE7011 @ 06/27/2008 3:46:51 PM

Comment: The problem is not the pharmaceutical company advertisements, and it is not the media. The problem is peer pressure! It is one of the strongest forces during adolescence. It forces a teenager to choose between their own feelings and that of their peers. When a teenager sees that their friends and school mates are taking medications and seem to be "ok" they think why not try it? Then simply trying a medication once can lead to an unexpected addiction. Parents don't want to admit to themselves and the community that their seemingly "perfect" child is not so perfect afterall. It is a very private situation that can be extremely difficult to talk openly about, but it is obvious we have to have this type of conversation. It starts with conversations in the household and matriculates down to faculty and friends. I still feel our country doesn't have its priorities straight. It isn't about being the smartest, sexiest, richest, and most fashionable, adolescence is about figuring out who you are and where you want to go in life and believe me there is no miracle pill that can figure that out for our teenagers!!
Posted By: C. MacLean @ 06/27/2008 2:01:49 PM

Comment: As psychiatric nurse specializing in addiction, I see this every day. Yes, many of our kids don't know how dangerous it is. Yes, the current bombardment of pharmaceutical ads on tv makes it seem safe.

But this grieving father and the current posts on this blog haven't addressed two very important issues: if the kids are doing it, you can bet the adults are, as well, and in much higher numbers. The post below by Davidbert shows death by illegal drugs at 889 and death by prescription drugs 3076 - how many of those were people over 21, or 25? Most will be adult deaths, not teen/young adult deaths; the vast amount of these prescriptions are given to adults over 25, and many more adults are abusing these (some unintentionally) than kids.

The second issue is - how many of those deaths included alcohol? Alcohol is still the number one drug abuse problem in our society today. Too many people are under the influence when they take these medicines, and it impairs their judgement and their memory - did I take my medications today? Better take them now, just in case.

This is not just about kids tragically taking handfulls of pills at a party - this is about a society that thinks pills are the answer, to almost everything. We need better ways to treat chronic pain, better ways to treat chronic anxiety, and treatment needs to be accessible and affordable.

We also need to get pharmaceutical ads off the airwaves - they promote the idea that drugs fix everything. Alcohol ads need to follow - the party hearty, binge drinking message is causing too much damage. And we need to recognize that this is not about our kids - it is about us.
Posted By: dramanub @ 06/27/2008 2:47:27 AM

Comment: i apologize, the second sentence should read, kids are told NOT to do drugs..... ect ect.
Posted By: dramanub @ 06/27/2008 2:45:31 AM

Comment: I think also, that the culture of advertising medications on TV is dangerous, confusing and wrong. Everyday we see commercials for prescription drugs that make it seem like they are safe and that everyone should be taking them. i think this confuses kids, who are not told not to do drugs, then turn on the television and see drug companies hawking the newest miracle pill. What they don't understand is that just because a doctor prescribes it, doesn't mean its safe.
Posted By: Davidebert @ 06/26/2008 8:01:14 PM

Comment: The Florida Medical Examiners Commission report has these facts on fatal drug overdoses in Florida in 2007: Deaths by each drug: Heroin: 21. Crystal meth: 25. Cocaine: 843. Prescription pain pills; opiods: 2328. Anti-anxiety prescriptions like Valium and Xanax:: 748. Alcohol: 466. Marijuana: 0. Alcohol was present in a total of 4179 deaths by misadventure- fights, accidents, etc. So- total deaths for the big three illegal drugs, 889. Total for the two major classes of prescription drugs, 3076 deaths, for a total of 2187 more deaths from prescription drugs than illegals. Households with children should have locking strong-boxes like gun safes for prescription drugs.