By Melanie Diaz
Medical News Intern

As a 20-year-old college student, I admittedly don’t know a lot about health care. I do know that even though I don’t have a full-time job with benefits, I’m covered, at least for now, by my parents’ insurance plan.

Young people often think we’re unbreakable. Some of us don’t think twice about our health, so why would we think about our health care? The reality is, just because we’re young doesn’t mean we don’t get sick. There are still health risks out there, and we’re all vulnerable to them. Just look at these realities:

- Olympic swimmer Eric Shanteau has testicular cancer. He’s 24.  Although this type of cancer is rare, it’s the most common form of cancer in men ages 15 to 34, according to the National Cancer Institute.

- The American Cancer Society tells us that since 1998, the incidence of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, has increased 3.7 percent in women ages 15 to 34.

- The American Academy of Dermatology says melanoma has become the most common cancer in young adults ages 25 to 29 and the second most common cancer in adolescents and young adults 15-29 years old.

So when the Commonwealth Fund reports that 13.7 million young adults lack health care in 2006 (click here for more information), making the 19-29 age group one of the largest and fastest growing segments of the population without health insurance, this young adult starts to care about health care.

And now, since I’m old enough to vote, I’ve started to think about the upcoming election. I’m considering an issue I’ve never even thought about before — health care. I’m seeing just how relevant it is to both my present AND my future.

What do you think? How old are you? How much do you know and care about health care?

Editor’s Note: Medical news is a popular but sensitive subject rooted in science. We receive many comments on this blog each day; not all are posted. Our hope is that much will be learned from the sharing of useful information and personal experiences based on the medical and health topics of the blog. We encourage you to focus your comments on those medical and health topics and we appreciate your input. Thank you for your participation.

By Ben Leach
Medical Production Assistant

While studying to become a medical reporter, one of the ways I learned about health care was by working as a pharmacy technician. Under the watchful eyes of the pharmacists, I filled prescriptions and learned about hundreds of prescription drugs and the conditions they treat.  I wasn’t expecting to learn so much about prescription insurance plans. 

I recently worked on a series about the cost of health care and I couldn’t help but remember how much people spent on their prescription drugs. People needed these drugs to stay healthy, but even with prescription coverage, they were still shelling out a lot of money. In the back of my mind, though, I knew that they didn’t have to spend all that cash to get their prescriptions.

Take proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), a class of drugs used to treat acid reflux. Brand-name PPIs such as Nexium and Prevacid can be very expensive. These drugs are slightly different chemically, but they work the same way and treat the same conditions. The problem is that prescription drug plans would usually cover one but not the other. For example, on one plan, Prevacid might have a $25 co-pay, but Nexium might cost  $50 on the same plan.

One cool thing I noticed was that doctors managed to find ways around this problem. One doctor wrote a prescription with six different PPIs on it, and for the patient’s sake, we had to fill only whichever one was cheapest under the patient’s plan. I saw another solution at my doctor’s office. The office made a chart with all the drugs and the most widely used prescription plans in the area, and it clearly marked which of these drugs were covered by which plans. If every patient taking a PPI had this chart in his or her pocket, it would have helped save money at the pharmacy counter.

If you’re shelling out a ton of money at the pharmacy for medications, you should be sure to investigate ways to save money with your doctor and your insurance plan.  If you know of a successful money saving strategy, please share it here.

Editor’s Note: Medical news is a popular but sensitive subject rooted in science. We receive many comments on this blog each day; not all are posted. Our hope is that much will be learned from the sharing of useful information and personal experiences based on the medical and health topics of the blog. We encourage you to focus your comments on those medical and health topics and we appreciate your input. Thank you for your participation.