I've seen it both ways. I think the problem with medicaid patients is that most pharmacists/pharmacy students don't remember the poor worker who comes in to get his albuterol inhaler and leaves since they don't really do anything noteworthy in the pharmacy. You remember the a-holes asking for their "oxy-cotton" early and bitching about $0.50 co-pays while they talk on their $300 cellphone. Both types of medicaid patients exist, it's just an unconscious bias that we have when we think about them.
I have to agree with this. Most of the people I interact with are quite pleasant (including medicaid patients), but of course every once in a while we get that obnoxious medicaid patient that is just completely unreasonable. Of course the mind goes straight to some version of "I am paying for your medication and you are b******
me out?" But most medicare patients are very easy to get along with if you aren't obnoxious to them first, imo.
Funny story. Obviously upset woman (medicaid patent) comes up to the counter with her baby. Gives me the script (something for the baby) and I start typing it in. Meanwhile she is just going on and on about the wait time, when can she pick it up, am I done typing it in yet/can she go, etc. When she came to pick it up, same story. I ask her for her birth date (per policy and also because of habit) and she starts up with "You know d*** well who I am yada yada yada".
I interrupted her with something like "Miss Upset, I am just trying to help you, their is no reason for you to be yelling at me."
As soon as the words left my lips, I thought, "Oh s*** what have I done."
To my surprise she started crying. Turns out she had been at the hospital all night because of her baby. She actually apologized for being so rude. Needless to say, I wasn't upset with her after that. I was moved.
Anyway I think my point was don't assume the worst about people, in this case she just had been through a rough ordeal and was using me as an inappropriate vent for her frustration. We got along find after that. I think she was happy to have someone to talk to about the whole situation.