My pharmaceutical insurance company has been pressuring me constantly to change one of my medications because it is not on their "preferred list." They want me to take the generic alternative. They call me and send me letters telling me how much money I will save. The problem is that my doctor, who actually went to medical school and has an M.D., and I have determined that the non-preferred non-generic medication, which is the re-engineered version of the now-generic precursor, works perfectly fine for me while the generic version does not.

But it doesn't just end at phone calls and letters trying to get me to switch my medication, they actually charge me more for my medication than the normal practice of a flat fee for a month's dosage. They have decided that 20mg of my "non-preferred" medication is the correct dosage for my condition, so when my doctor and I decide to bump it up to 30mg a day, they charge me more. So they are making it cost-prohibitive for me to take a medication that has been approved for my diagnosed condition, because they don't prefer it.

I don't know who the people are who are making these decisions at my pharmaceutical insurance company. I have never met them. I don't know if they have M.D.s or not. But they certainly can't diagnose me when they haven't even met me, can they? And isn't making certain medications cost-prohibitive a de-facto practice of medicine?

I know that you care about issues like this, Gov. Spitzer. Can you let me know when state and federal laws will outlaw insurance companies from practicing medicine?

Sincerely,

Wry Twinger