Stupid ways to increase health care cost. A true story.

Health care is expensive.  It is arguably much to expensive.  Here's a true story showing some of the foolish reasons it to expensive.

Day 1 - Call pharmacy to get prescription refilled.  CVS has a generally good prescription refill automated system.  Unfortunately, after asking for a refill I pressed 2 instead of 1 and got an IVR script to refill another prescription.  No way out of IVR script except 3, talk to a pharmacist.  Choose 3, talk to pharmacist who gladly helps.  Dear CVS Common Sense thinks it's DUMB not to have a go back option on your IVR menus.  Extra cost of prescription refill, one pharmacist conversation.

Day 1, later - Go to CVS to pick up prescription.  Not there.  Talk to pharmacist again.  Pharmacist says insurance won't cover until tomorrow.  Prescription has 1 refill every 30 days.  Prescription dated 24th of last month.  It's now 24th of this month.  That's actually 31 days since November has 31 days.  Pharmacist agrees but it seems that prescription wasn't picked up until 25th of November, never mind that it's still been 30 days, insurance says no. Pharmacist says phone it in on the 25th.  Dear insurance company, Blue Cross Blue Shield Ma, days are days not dates.  BTW, what does the pickup date have to do with the prescription date.  Dumb to reduce your cost at the expense of system cost.  Extra cost of prescription refill, another pharmacist conversation.

Day 2 - Phone CVS and order prescription again.  Manage to hit 2 not 1.  Extra cost of prescription refill, additional IVR interaction.

Day 2 later - Pick up prescription interacting again with pharmacist.

So the insurance company optimized their cost by screwing me, happily I don't take the med every day so days vs date not an issue.  Along the way, the insurance companies inflexible policy, we're talking 24 hours here folks, actually since it was 4PM when I went to pick up the prescription we're really talking 12 hours, lead to 1 additional lengthy human interaction, 1 additional IVR interaction, and 1 short human interaction.

This is NOT efficient.  It's a case study in how one parties optimization actually increases cost.  Dumb, just plain dumb.  So thinks Common Sense.