Copay poems on Hello Poetry

mrs kite Dec 2016

emeto

faux leather cracking, mauve in between
soft swoosh and wheels creaking
14 minutes and 38 seconds
your back stiffening, careful not to lean
too far back, in case the couch swallows you

why would you put such a small picture
in such a large frame? a sigh
you can’t run away from your anxiety attacks
you know

I know.

this is nothing like the movies
the bathroom is out of order
and there are barely any notes
on her clipboard
45 minutes and 22 seconds
let me know if the sadness gets worse, alright?

alright.

a child is gagging in the waiting room
you rush out without the copay
but you’ll be back again, soon.

#sad #anxiety #thoughts #idk #counseling #emetophobia

Derrick Jones Aug 2018

The Pain of a PA

When you’re a PA, every day you try to make people healthy, but you have to be stealthy because only the really wealthy seem to care, the rest are trying to get by and they don’t ask why, they don’t cry, they just do, so it’s you who has to sneak some health into their day to day, make their pain go away without any lifestyle change, and it’s strange and outrageous but poverty isn’t contagious, so you treat everything else and hope that somebody else gets to the root of the problem, because you’re just a brute who will rob them of their copay when they really need a good job and decent pay, a balance between work and play, something to pray to and something to eat that’s not fast food, but you don’t want to be rude and you only have ten minutes to fit it in so you refill their meds and hope the feds don’t catch you giving pain pills to someone who’s not dying, even if they’re crying, you have to be tough, because life is rough and sometimes tylenol has to be enough, because they might abuse and you have a license you could lose and it’s not worth the risk, but if you’re not taking risks what is this, why are you here, why live in fear when you could be changing lives, giving high fives to patients who not only survived, but were given the tools to thrive, isn’t that what you’re striving for, and when you walk in the door the smile should be real, you should feel something, reveal the truth and heal deeper than the surface, because these are real humans and they’re worth it.

For more poetry and essays, follow my blog on Medium at https://medium.com/words-ideas-thoughts
Thanks for reading!

#healthcare #wealth #inequality

B Young Nov 2015

Art Angels

When dead men tell no tales.
My poetry still spouts from the grave,
to the tune of taps, a melody over the air,
signaling I shan't be saved.
She drops me off at the intersection of last year and tomorrow.
I look ahead with anticipation and
behind with sorrow.
Why do I cry out in distress?
Is my life really such an unheralded mess?
Or, is this path of distraught paths really the
god’s way of kissing me, saying, “son, you are
indeed blessed."
These pills cloud me, the gods of medicine hear
my plea and require a copay, a fee.
My vowels propel through space and time,
With a rhyme I dance with the
art angels in a basement of grime.
Carry me on the wings of pestilence,
I refuse to let go of this golden glow.
4am 5am 6am

I wonder
as I wander,
where this absent cavity in my chest
will be filled.
I go to the ocean, to the sea,
only to see the waves lap against me and,
for a moment I feel free, yet still absent from life.
I traverse the plains to find myself
lost in an empty great wild American praire expanse,
until I find myself trembling at the foothills
of the great mountains rocky of the west.
Climb, I must, or die alone and
hungry still absentness beating
within my chest.
4am 5am 6am

#poem #poetry #dreams #art #what #angels #morning #inspired #early #grimes

Dream Fisher Feb 2020

Narc

An older lady came to the pharmacy
To pick up her oxycodone twenties,
Her copay wasn't much money,
Double counted a hundred twenty
As close to me as you stand,
I explained her doctor prescribed Narcan.
In case of overdose, one spray up the nose
Can save yourself or someone else.
She twisted her face to me real funny,
And said "What do you take me for a druggie?"
She took the vial, left the spray
As I waved with a have a nice day.

She felt accused by me, in a huff,
Threw the pills up in her cabinet.
As fate would have it, her granddaughter
Came over and spotted the bottle with red cap.
Imagining the high if she could get that,
Imagining the euphoria as she stole that.
Sneaking off into the bathroom
Downing tap, she consumed a few.

Something wasn't right, her breath felt light,
Disoriented trying to read the label,
Hands shaking, feeling her body dive,
She saw the number twenty, thinking they were fives.
Unresponsive, her grandmother runs in
With the sound of a heavy crash,
She waits for paramedics who arrive at last.
Only to announce, nothing to be saved
Now she digs a grave for pride over a nasal spray.

#narcotics #narcan #dreamfisher #narc

Emily Rebecca Burch Jan 2015

Why people don't like to visit the doctor anymore

Well hi there, I need a mole removal. I'd do it myself but I need biopsy approval. If it 'a cancerous, I'd like to know. And for this reason, to the dermatologist I'll go.
  Well hi, there, I see you're in-network. A $50 copay? Sure, that'll work. What's that? Later in you're going to charge me a $150 new-patient fee? But, why? I was only in here for maybe twenty minutes. Am I now being charged rent to sit my *** on your medical chair?
   So now I'll wait for the bill to arrive. Oh, look. It's here... Wonder what it'll be?
$298!? What the hell could've cost so much? All you did was inject me with some sedative, bring in something comparable to a box opener and lop it off. The whole thing, in-room with me took you just about less than 15...
   Oh, and look... It looks like my insurance did pay more than half. It cost nearly $800 for the whole thing. What the crap?!
  Oh, I suppose our country is trying to work out the kinks. And for all my troubles, I guess I'll be finalizing my account for mostly, if not all free. Once the financial assistance department decides to stop giving me the run-around. Next time, I suppose I'll need to inspect further. Just because the office is down the street does NOT necessarily mean it's going to end up being cheaper. Because if I'd have known maybe $10 in gas would have saved me all this trouble, I would not have gone to what is technically classified as a "hospital."

Yeah... Hoping my bill will finally be reduced. They sent me the wrong form, then said they lost my paperwork in the mail. Then said they lost my files. Finally, after asking for a supervisor they decided to try to do their job. -*sigh*

Blakbuttafly89 Dec 2018

How could i forget

Hurt just left feeling empty
Feelings kicked around in the dirt
I am truly angry because I remembered your name and forgot mine
And I am lonely.. maybe just out of fear but more so because I refuse to fall for
Another chocolate man standing over 6ft tall grinning in my face as if the Fire I thought we were making was real
my heart still aches for you 7 to 8 months later.
I cant believe I had to pay numerous copay's for therapy because I allowed you to get in my head and make me feel less than.
I know ill never get to say these things to your face so ill leave them here to travel through cyber space
Im still angry that I Remembered your name and Forgot mine

Jordan Clark Sep 2015

Deep Rest

This city is full of fog,
my lungs are full of smoke,
and the irony of the gloom is that I ran back here to catch my breath.

I lost a battle,
but instead of a proud warrior's death,
I got 2 dollars in my bank account
and a futon that gives me lower back pain.

Time is the one commodity we all seem to have
yet the one we're most afraid of losing.
So when clocks tell me to go to sleep
instead of telling me the time, maybe I should listen
instead of laying awake giving it terrible Yelp reviews.

But I'm just out here looking for a purpose,
other than being lovesick with no insurance,
and in no way
do I have the copay,
but if you ask me, it's still worth it.

Dream Fisher Apr 2019

Drug Cultered

You take an aspirin a day
Because they say it's a miracle drug
In a few days your blood pressure is raised,
Prescribed losartan from a doctor
But only a dollar copay,
the insurance pays and all is ok. Ok?

You wake up with dizziness and muscle cramps,
You can't take the pain, no problem.
"Just take some meclizine and tizanidine.
All those side effects will go away."
But the muscle relaxant makes me drowsy
In the morning, it makes me unable to focus at all.
"Naturally, here try low dose Adderall!"

That seems to be working but now
I can't seem to sleep well through the night.
My body is tired but my mind stills spins.
"I've got it, just five milligrams of Ambien."
So a losartan, meclizine, tizanidine, Adderall, Ambien, oh and my aspirin.
And all is ok, ok?

Doctor, I don't know what to do,
I take everything you tell me to
And I just don't feel like I'm myself.
"Sir, take some sertraline, it will help,
It sounds like your depressed"
And doctor something in this mix
Is causing horrid back pain
"No problem, some pain killers
You'll feel like yourself again."

You take an aspirin a day
Because they say it's a miracle drug

#dreamfisher #drug #cultured

matthew scott harris Sep 2019

Woke gastroenterologist Mary Kathleen Friedland

Prescribed blood tests
present no qualms,
unlikely nothing askew i.e.
ticking time bombs
nor prone to catastrophization,

albeit anticipatory anxiety
plus demeanor of poetically titled
medical practitioner allays, calms
alleviates agitation exhibited
by dad's and/or mom's

panic minimizes si? no sweaty palms,
nonetheless precautionary measure taken
thumbing apostle Matthew psalms
ayee feel grateful relatively
clean bill of health.

Nine thirty morning
appointment earlier today
September tenth two
thousand nineteen no way
found yours truly bright

tailed, and bush shay
eyed, cuz mine circadian rhythm
(reed sleepiness), I cannot betray,
yet medical plight concerning
bowel movement analogous to clay

stool pigeons ever ray
now and again plague me: hay
4 four at aye
oh elle dot com, alias math they
you scott harris happy as jay

bird for personable rapport
she, said practitioner did display
offering friendly feedback
proactive measures to avoid
finding mine psyche

analogously scrambled (think) souffle
even absent such agreeable
pharmacological medications keep at bay
panic stricken state
seeding additional gray

hairs (matter of fact
synthesized prescription -
pills selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors)
only necessitate small copay
Medicare bonafide dogsend

whereby nurse practitioner equal
however much she doth weigh,
in salt, though an oft worn cliché
feather in her cap coup d'éta
personable, laudable, hospitable...

winning accolades regarding
humbleness and modest stay
expertise within her craft hoop fillet
staving off general mills concerns

reason I wrote rhyme, eh somewhat passé
even Mister Ed would neigh say
so with his horse sense to stirrup
unbridled jollity - me hoof finds rein
ching words cathartic je ne sais quois

experimenting with this, that,
or t'other typed out array,
perhaps hashtagged as tripe courtesy quay
zee poor ah shunned poet fray
ming tropes distinguished (ha)

even if garnering no pay
English language I play
juxtaposing incongruities
to tease out reactions probably lay

build rickety lettered edifices
manuscripts best sentenced to sauté
within steaming vat
fed as swill to petsmart hogs
grunting as they fertilize mulch greenway.

Racheal Rodriguez Jun 2019

Selfish

Having desires that conflict with the selfishness of others.

A: "I'm getting my appendectomy tomorrow. I need to save this money for copay."
B: "How could you be so selfish? Spending money on "necessary operations" left and right, and meanwhile my wife and I can't pay the television bill. I can't believe you could be so - "

a m a n d a Oct 2020

not advised

(primary care THIS, my blood pressure is fine, thanks for asking)

hello, ma’am!
i am here, in your office
that you appear to be advertising as
a place of business, specifically; the business of medicine. for humans. a human doctor, if you will.

i read every word of the brochure
of appalling lies you gave me,
willing to give you ½ my workday,
a copay, and spent an entire
evening printing,
scanning, categorizing and labeling
records that i am AWARE are ELECTRONIC. however, as so many of
your colleagues have suggested,
it’s almost “impossible” to get any information, and it’s my *******
responsibility to be my own *******
secretary since yours ****. and i should know BECAUSE I HAVE DONE THE JOB.
i can see the program you are using
which i am proficient in. i might still have my own logins if someone else didn’t do their job. i’ve been behind the curtain so don’t play these ******* games with ME.
i have done all the things.
i have gone above and beyond
in MY preparedness, since
in this country you are advised
“to be your own advocate”
because you cannot trust one single
******* to do it for you,
even if it’s THEIR LITERAL JOB.

i digress, i am here.
and i am calm.
with hundreds of pages
of reports in hand
categorized in reverse chronological order
and further labeled and divided by
date, provider, and tests.
calmly letting you
lead the conversation since
within the first 3 minutes of
meeting you
looked at me above your
mask with wild eyes
and told me
you “don’t have time.”

i thank you for your brilliant observations,
complete lack of any compassion
and apparent complete disregard for the
health of your patients. thank you for not
looking up my medical history or having
any notes or results even though i gave your office the information when
i made the godforsaken appt,
AND JUST IN CASE
brought PIECES OF ACTUAL PAPER
you refused to look at, read, pretend to read, scan or save even though i told you
you literally could keep it
because i wasn’t born yesterday
and have a ******* copy.

i don’t have time for YOU,
*****. thanks for nothing
and i hope you sleep
******* great tonight.

— The End —