You Can’t Insure Against Evil
BAD BEHAVIOR, PARENTS/GUARDIANS, PENNSYLVANIA, PHARMACY, USA | HEALTHY | SEPTEMBER 22, 2019
(A young woman pulls up to the drive-thru pharmacy to pick up Ritalin for her son, who is sitting in the backseat. The medication isn’t ready so I check the system and see that the insurance isn’t covering it. A reason is usually provided, but not in this case.)
Evil Mom: “That makes no sense. We always get it filled here and there’s never a problem. The insurance covers everything.” *classic line with pharmacy customers who think insurance is magic and has no limitations*
Me: “I understand. But I just tried to run it through the insurance and they rejected it without giving a reason why. Would you be able to call them?”
Evil Mom: “Okay, I’ll call right now.” *looks at her insurance cards angrily* “So, what’s the number?”
Me: *confused why she thinks I know the number off the top of my head* “There should be a customer service number on the back of the card.”
Evil Mom: *still angry* “Member services?”
Me: “Yes.”
(She calls and remains sitting in the single-lane driveway, blocking a line of cars with no regard for the other people who came for their medications.)
Me: “Could you pull around the store to make the call?”
Evil Mom: “I’m not leaving this spot until I get my son’s meds.”
(The pharmacist comes over.)
Pharmacist: *friendly* “I’m sorry, but would you be able to—”
Evil Mom: *without looking at us* “I’m not leaving.” *rolls the window up in our faces*
(The pharmacist curses under her breath and leaves to help other customers. The mom reaches someone from the insurance company and puts the window back down. For fifteen minutes, I listen to her scream at the representative. The whole store can hear her through the drive-thru dropping profuse F-bombs and bullying the rep. Her son is fidgeting in the back seat, but sadly, he doesn’t look surprised by this behavior.)
Evil Mom: “Why isn’t my son’s medication covered? You are supposed to cover it and he needs this! What is your name? Okay. And what is your last name? ‘L’ is your last name? Wow. That’s a weird last name. Then give me your employee number. What do you mean, you don’t have numbers? So, how does your company have you on file? Give me your information. You know what? Nevermind. I want to speak to a manager. Now.”
(A car behind her honks.)
Other Customer: *shouting forward* “What’s going on? It’s been almost half an hour! Just go inside!”
Evil Mom: *shouting back* “SHUT THE F*** UP!”
(Eventually, the cars behind her begin leaving the line. None of them come inside the store. Mom, still on the phone, throws a discount prescription card and her welfare card at me and looks expectant. I return a blank look.)
Evil Mom: *pleasant voice* “I’m waiting for you.”
Me: *confused as to what she expects me to do, since the insurance issue has not been resolved* “Did they put the claim through? If so, I can try to re-run it.”
Evil Mom: *arrogantly* “Just run the cards and give me the medication. I’m going to pay the same amount as I did last time. Use the cards I just gave you and give me his pills.”
Me: “It still has to go through the insurance first.”
(The mom continues screaming obscenities simultaneously at the phone and now at me. The pharmacist comes over again and takes charge of the situation.)
Pharmacist: “You need to stop talking like that to our staff. You’re cursing and insulting us. We don’t need that. In the future, I think you need to use a different pharmacy.”
Evil Mom: *in a weirdly amused way* “Who are you even? I didn’t ask you anything.”
(The pharmacist and I are fed up. I look back and see that the store manager has been listening to everything in the background. The pharmacist tries to run the medication through the insurance again but the rejection is still coming up.)
Pharmacist: “The insurance is still not going through. We’ve done what we can. The cash price is $130 and we can fill it for you.”
(The mom sped away in a flash without another word. We were surprised she didn’t curse us out one more time. We anticipate that she has already called corporate to tell them we are horrible people preventing her from getting her son’s medication. The store manager who overheard said she will vouch for us. If that evil mom knew how to be patient and work with people, there is a chance she could have gotten her son’s medication filled. I feel really bad for that kid.)
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