Petey P. Cup

Filed under strange but true...

Our health plan has mascots. That's right, mascots...for a health plan. I was paying a recent bill (remember the broken foot) online and while I was there I was looking at some of the information available to me online. I can see graphs of my weight or blood pressure, old test results, when I had my last physical, how much I have paid in co-pays, etc. While poking around I saw a banner:



I am thinking, WTF?! PETEY P. CUP?! Am I 5 years old and have to be convinced the doctor's office is not an evil place?! But I still clicked on it. Then I found out Petey has a friend, Pokey the Syringe. They each have Facebook pages, you can play their favorite online game (Whack a Molar), you can buy T-Shirts and stuffed Peteys and Pokeys.

Now I am thinking this is just way too corny. This is a health plan. How is anyone going to take them seriously with these goofy mascots?

Then I started to get a little mad. Yes, that's right, mad. Do you know how much we pay for health care? Way too freaking much! Do you know what kind of care we get when we go to the doctor? Mediocre at best! So here's what I think, instead of spending the money they are making off of me on colorful banners, mascot and product development, and paying some schlep to monitor Facebook; maybe they could charge me less or at least spend the money on improving care for me and my family.