The health insurer Cigna on Wednesday announced it will no longer cover OxyContin prescriptions for customers on its employer-based health plans, the second major announcement in two weeks from an industry group billed as an effort to slow the opioid epidemic.
Cigna also announced its intent to reduce opioid use among its consumers by 25 percent by 2019. Insurance consumers who have started OxyContin use for cancer or hospice care are exempt from the policy change.
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I am a 48 year single woman who for 2 years went to every kind of Dr. there was in hopes of finding a name or cure for my illness. In the end I was diagnosed with Lupus / Bechets and terrible Peripheral Neuropathy, among a bunch of other things. I was not on a mission looking for pain pills I was looking for a solution that nobody could give me. I had almost given in to the fact that I would be quitting my job soon and going on disability. Finally, after 2 years of suffering through terrible chronic pain daily and struggling to get through the day at my job that I have held with a Fortune 100 Company in a well respected position for 25 years. ( the only reason I am even mentioning that is to show I am a responsible person)my regular Dr. said he would try to help me manage the pain as he had seen me suffer for 2 years and still no hope in sight. We tried different things and the one that gave me my life back was the Oxycontin. It was so nice to feel normal and not that terrible pain all day and night. I have been taking the same amount for the last year and a half and am able to be a productive part of society again, working and paying my taxes. I am sorry for the addicts and abusers who could not OR would not get help and lost their lives. I feel more sorrow for the people they leave behind to grieve. I can understand they want to take a stand and make a difference in the name of the person they lost but this is all happening the wrong way. You are punishing respectable, hard working people who have never had any issues with drugs . You don’t know me better then my Dr. and you reserve the right to take away the one thing that works for me with no issues? You can oversee him and tell me I need to try certain other meds first before you would even consider giving me an authorization for the Oxycontin ? I have no history of drug or alcohol abuse and have never been arrested for either. Now, I have to suffer financially, physically and emotionally for the next 3 months , AT LEAST, while I unwillingly have to try these and have every single pain back worse then before while doing so. My life goes on hold for months, my health declines again and my job suffers so I can be a lab rat. Nobody cares how our lives will suffer and change while we become lab rats . You want to help with the drug abuse issues?? Start on the streets with the dealers and pushers. Start cleaning up all the homeless, drug addicts off the street and getting them help. Look into peoples backgrounds and if they have a history of abuse, pull their coverage. There are ALOT of other places to begin this journey then with those of us who are doing nothing wrong but living the best quality of life we can, in peace !! Until now !! Not to mention all the people that lost their jobs at the Pharmaceutical Company, just trying to feed their families. NO ONE has this shoved down their throat, if you don’t feel comfortable with it , DONT TAKE IT !! Plain and Simple
This is absolutely ridiculous. How is it acceptable to treat those with chronic pain like a junkie and the junkie like the ‘poor poor pitful you?” – do not give me this crap that addiction is an illness – addiction is a choice – or starts out as one anyway. The people who need this mediation to function should not be punished because there are those that could not control themselves – and to the other person’s point – YOU ARE RIGHT! There has been a heroin addiction problem in the country long before pain killers – go after the real problem or does that scare you? Here’s an idea – leave the medical treatment to the doctors NOT the government or our insurance companies! The epedemic now is if your in pain – to bad! We are treating our animals better at this point. AND (while i am on my soap box) – I know of 3 people right now who are on herion because they can no longer get the pain medication their doctors use to give them for legit reasons – one is a vet…. thanks for serving our country – but live the rest of your life suffering because some 20 year old decided to abuse the medication you need to put one foot in front of the other!!!!! SO good job government and insurance companies – YOU are fueling the heroin epidemic YOU!
Is unfortunate that I am one of these people to have to take this medicine to prevent the pain from for blown disc in my back meanwhile why Cigna makes me jump through hoops to try to get surgery I’ve been trying to get surgery for over two and a half years now from Cigna keeps denying the surgery the last round of BS that to prove that I don’t smoke enough to see a clinical Behavior specialist even though my doctor is rated I believe number 3 in the country for back surgery so now yet another hurdle that I must climb with a bad back and for blown disc this will do nothing to stop the opioid crisis many people who abused this medicine or should we say opioid are heroin users very few people they have prescriptions for this medicine abused it doctors are very strict in handing out this medicine they know the cost oh both the patient and themselves if they do not follow the rules correctly this is more than just a shame was he down right disgrace I have paid my insurance for two and a half years taking a second mortgage on my home and now still trying to get surgery so my to lose everything I’ve worked my entire life for and now went up in pain because some bureaucrats or politicians don’t know what it’s like to be in pain perhaps they need a compound fracture to change their mind there’s only so much meditation you can do to take your mind off of pain wonder how fast they change their mind with a compound fracture or for blown disc in her back oh that’s right they have the best insurance money can buy since we all pay for it Yours Truly Carl from Connecticut
Why don’t the GOVERNMENT put a STOP to the Heroin ??? because someone is getting PAID and just because some people do not do what the Dr said then we all must be punished well everyone is NOT the same so quit blaming the Dr because some addict dies of being dumb about taking his medicine. This makes me sick they keep saying leads to Heroin well not all people want to be on Heroin. If the government REALLY wanted to STOP heroin they could but again someone up high is getting PAID, follow the MONEY.