Health Care, U.S. Style

I have a new appreciation for how hard it must be to not have health insurance in the States. The Krumbiegel house has lots of character (generally in a good way), but part of the character comes from it being a bit old and musty and dusty, and I can't imagine how much mildew there is from all the years of flooded basements. Anyway, as a result, whenever I get here my allergies go into overdrive (it's like in the classic film This is Spinal Tap...most allergies go to 10, but mine go to 11). By Day Two, I'm typically sneezing and coughing and wheezing and my eyes are so red and itchy and crusty I feel somehow reptilian (assuming, that is, that reptiles have red, itchy, crusty eyes). Between the allergy medicine I brought with me and some over-the-counter stuff from the pharmacy I got most of it under control, but my eyes were still awful. So I called my doctor in Washington and had her call in a prescription for eyedrops that have worked for me in the past. When we went to pick them up at the pharmacy, we also had to pick up some prescriptions for her mom, including large quantities of painkillers (enough to last Rush Limbaugh at least three days). Total cost for her medicine, which is covered by insurance? About $2.50. Total cost for a very small bottle of eyedrops not covered by insurance? $91. Now I'm fortunate enough that my insurance back in Switzerland should pick up the cost when I get back, and even if it didn't, we're fortunate enough that we wouldn't go broke if we had to cover the cost on our own. But I really don't know how people get by when they don't have that luxury--if eyedrops cost $91 without insurance, I can't imagine what many other medicines must cost.