Most of the stories we share about advocacy start with a hardship of some kind—like catastrophic medical bills, denied claims, or expensive prescription drugs that people cannot afford to take, even if they are essential to their health and well-being. Athos Advocates are passionate about helping members find solutions that get them through these tough situations, but that is only part of our mission at Athos Health.
We’ve been talking a lot about prescription drugs this month and sharing the ways our advocates can help save people money on their medications. Jan’s member story is a great example of how we can utilize multiple tactics to ensure that members are able to take their essential medications, even when they are too costly or not covered by insurance.
This story is going to be a little bit different. As I was writing Jan’s story, detailing the over $8,000 per year in savings that her advocate secured, it got me thinking about my own medication situation, which led me to do something that surprisingly, I’ve never done before: ask an advocate for help!
Let’s back up so I can introduce myself...
My name is Lauren and I’ve been part of the marketing team at Athos as a content writer for about a year. I am 33 years old and live in Seattle. When I started this position, I had very little understanding of the health insurance industry and truly avoided calling or dealing with my insurance company unless it was an emergency. In the past I’ve had a few extremely frustrating situations trying to sort out how much my medical care was going to cost, and that made me feel totally alone, and rather bitter about health insurance. I felt like I could never get a straight answer from providers, or insurance customer support.
I've been lucky enough not to need anything from my insurance for a while now, a privilege for which I am very grateful. I only need to think about it once each month to pay my premium online. But the content we’ve been sharing this month about how to save money on prescription drugs inspired me to deviate from this comfortable routine.
I take a daily medication that I’ve been paying $57 per month out-of-pocket for using a GoodRX coupon. I’ve used this system over the years and through a couple insurance plan changes because it doesn’t really break the bank for me and frankly, it just seemed easier than figuring out how to bill my insurance after my previous experiences.
Realizing that I have access to the great minds of our Athos Advocates made me finally feel ready to tackle the task of figuring out the cost of my medication if I were to use my insurance... and honestly, I feel extremely silly for waiting so long to do this because after the quick work of my advocate I now know that I can get my meds for free, saving me almost $700 per year.
To be clear, I don’t normally publish personal accounts of my mishaps, but the point I want to make by telling my story is important: Athos Advocates are an incredible resource and an asset to ANYONE with health insurance, whether they are experiencing a major issue or not.
I can’t be not the only person out there who has been paying extra money for medications, simply because it’s easier, and my hope is that current and future members will see how I used the advocacy program to audit my situation and find a way to improve it.
With things constantly changing in the world of healthcare it’s important to check-in regularly and see if you are overpaying for services or medication. Athos makes it so easy that every one of our members should take full advantage! I can speak directly from experience now when I say that our advocates are top notch. Not only am I saving money, but now I’ve checked off a task that was nagging at me each time I picked up my prescription.
If you have a question or just want to speak to someone knowledgeable about your healthcare routine (whether it involves medication or not) please reach out to your advocate. They truly want to hear from you! And in the meantime, make sure to catch up on our Healthcare Hackr videos, another great resource that may inspire some questions. This month our resident “Hackr” goes into detail about some of the easy methods our advocates use to find the lowest possible cost on prescriptions for our members.
If this story inspired you to uncover opportunities to change your healthcare routine for the better, we’d love to hear about it! Contact us at contact@athoshealth.com.
