Health insurance debacle-Prior auth's and special permissions-no yellow brick road folks

Patient's simply do not understand how decisions upstream limit care choices and create barriers. Cracks are created and patients are swept into them all the time! Patients get mad at pharmacists for any perceived delay, but the delays and wrinkles are set upstream by the insurance carriers. Even for true need, it's tough to get proper care expedited because of phone trees, and simply no one with a healthcare background to speak directly with 24/7. These barriers are driven by cost focus, and nothing more. This inefficiency adds a HUGE cost burden to the system and sets the stage for errors and suboptimal care. I truly hope patients will wake up, and scream about this to legislators as HC policy is being re-engineered. Many patients leave hospital with prescriptions, only to find they can't be filled at the pharmacy. Hey NPR! I challenge you to have someone spend part of a day in a community pharmacy to see how hard pharmacists work on behalf of patients to get what's needed. It will shock you! Nice to hear perspective from docs and nurses, but spend some time with us and see another side too.