...the pharmacy was in a fight with the supplier...

The ankle saga continues...

Last week, I tried to buy an air cast, prescribed to me by the doctor from Terem, the emergency clinic. In America, you don't need a prescription for an air cast.  You can pick one up at a store like Target for about $50.  I mistakenly thought it would be easy to acquire here too.

I had been staying with friends in Nachlaot for a few days (THANKS Rach and Ben!!) and they live near the pharmacy run by my health insurance, so I decided to stop by.  I didn't have the piece of paper the doctor had given me because (1) I hadn't anticipated staying so long in Nachlaot and didn't think I needed to bring it with me to seder and (2) I didn't know that it was an actual prescription but rather simply a summary of my visit with recommendations for recovery.  When I got to my pharmacy, it didn't really matter, though, that I didn't have the prescription because they were all out of air casts and had been for several months.  I asked what I was supposed to do and was told that there are a few specialty orthotic stores across the street that should carry air casts.  I was also told that they would not be open for all of Pesach as they were owned by religious Jews who didn't work during the holiday.  Thank you, Israel.  Two stores right nearby, both closed for the whole holiday even though Passover, when people travel, hike, and camp, is a time of high injury making a store like this quite important.

Considering that I wasn't supposed to walk without an air cast and that I only needed to be on crutches for three to four days, waiting until the end of Pesach wasn't really an appealing option, so I asked the pharmacist if he could order an air cast for me and then when I came back, I would bring my prescription and everything would be honky dory.  It was so Israeli when he said that the pharmacy "wasn't speaking" with the supplier and would therefore be unable to order me an air cast.  The pettiness of it shocked me.  I was more shocked when he tried to offer me a much less supportive ankle brace that would cost over 600₪ ($165) without a prescription.  It looked like a $20 nothing that could have been bought at Walgreen's.   I kindly thanked him and waited patiently for Passover to end so I could track down the real deal from the specialty store.

Finally, over a week and a half after my injury, the time had come.  I hobbled to the orthotics store (I was already crutch-free on the recommendation of a physiotherapist friend...THANKS girl!!) with my prescription and gold-plus insurance card in hand ready to make a highly anticipated purchase.  And to my pleasure it was a very easy process.  I chatted for a bit with the very nice store owner about my ankle, my knees, and all of my other aches and pains.  He got me what I needed, asked me about aliyah, and had an overall good demeanor.  It was quite funny, though, when he asked why I had waited so long after the sprain to get an air cast.  I kindly reminded him that he had been closed all of Pesach (love me this so Israeli country), and we laughed a few seconds about it together.  He sent me on my way with a receipt to take to my health insurance company and a good feeling about kind, talkative, helpful Israelis (which is one of the reasons I fell in love with the country).  He had clearly explained to me the whole refund process and said that I should double check a few things to make sure I would have no problems (e.g. my referral for the air cast was from an emergency doctor and not an orthopedic specialist) and that if I did, he would write me a new receipt with a date after a proper referral.  He knew his stuff and was very helpful.

Surprisingly, so were the people at my health insurance company.  I went the next morning to work out the refund.  When I got to the office, there were a few people in front of me.  It was so Israeli when one woman, who hadn't been waiting much longer than me (from what I gathered from people sitting around me) started screaming at every single person who walked by about how it was unacceptable that only two people were working instead of four and that the wait is too long for people who work and that the customers in front of her shouldn't be allowed to ask questions because it takes too long and wastes other customers time.  While I agreed with some of her complaints, the last one really made me laugh.  After a good ten minutes of screaming, though, someone came out to help with the morning rush.  It turns out that the person who came to help could only take one type of customer, customers who needed refunds, and I was the only one who needed that service.  So I was next.  My paperwork was fine, and I was in and out of the office in three minutes.

If all goes as planned, I will get an 83% discount on my air cast.  The air cast cost 400₪ ($110) at the orthotic store (less than the lesser ankle brace the pharmacy wanted me to buy), and because I have gold-plus insurance, it should only end up costing me 68₪ ($18), much less than the $50 from Target.
(The orthotic guy in Israel said he also pays about $50 for the air cast...and then marks it up 200%.)  Thank you Israel for being the slightly backwards country with which I am so in love.