PORT ANGELES — John Robertson followed all the directions, crossed all the Ts, connected all the dots.
So why can’t he get the $3,000 worth of medicines he needs each month for the $11 co-pay he was promised under Medicare Part D?
He doesn’t know. His doctor doesn’t know. His pharmacy doesn’t know.
All Robertson knows is, “I’m just doing exactly what I was told to do.”
Briefly, what he was told was to sign up with an insurance company called PacifiCare in Costa Mesa, Calif., for his new Medicare drug benefit.
PacifiCare said it would cover for $11 what had cost $140 through the state Department of Social and Health Services.
Robertson, 47, recalled his visit with Medicare experts at the Senior Services and Community Center in Port Angeles.
“I asked, ‘Is this right? Is this correct?’ And they said, ‘Yeah.”‘
But when he presented his new Prescription Solutions card at the Rite Aid pharmacy near his Port Angeles apartment, he was told he wasn’t covered.
Robertson, an ex-Marine, said Sunday he has an inoperable brain tumor that forced him to retire 11 years ago.
He takes oral chemotherapy for the illness, pills that cost about $2,000 monthly. Because he also suffers blackouts and seizures, he also takes an anti-convulsant drug that costs another $800.