Community Chat

[mistyada]

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@Reba055 wrote:

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@mistyada wrote:

I know my insurance will now only cover my eye drops for 22 days out of 30. That is crazy but one bottle oniy contains a 22 day supply according to the drug company. 

There are many standard drugs that they do not cover. I have found the app DrugRX. It looks at your prescription and checks the prices at your local pharmacies. They tell you what pharmacy is cheapest and you can get a coupon. It may surprise you that places like Walmart are not the cheapest. Some pharmacies charge more than double for the same prescription.

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@mistyada Great point. I gave purchased 90 pills at a time using no insurance much cheaper than my 3 copays would have been. It's crazy. We really should shop around. The problem is when you are sick, the last thing you feel like doing is going through all that!

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@Reba055 That is why I mentioned the DrugRx app. It literally takes a minute to do a price check around your neighborhood. You give it your zip and then put in the drug and amount (pills, bottle, etc). Then it gives you the pricing info. You can do it on your phone. Even my allergist gives out flyers for DrugRx.  It is free to use. Every penny counts with drug prices today. 

[Lipstickdiva]

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@ValuSkr wrote:

Insurance companies are wielding more power.  And who can blame them - they're paying the bills.  Let your doctor duke it out with them.  I appreciate their efforts to hold a line on costs and - in theory at least - on insurance premiums.  It ain't easy!

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I disagree.  Most of the time the people making the decision at the insurance company isn't even close to qualified to be making those decisions as to what is medically necessary or not. 

[Lipstickdiva]

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@cherry wrote:

@Q4u  It was express scrips, and I have heard nothing but bad stuff  about them.  I use medicare, and probably pay more, but I don't care.  They will never get another penny from me

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My DH uses Express Scripts and knock on wood, we've had absolutely no problems with them at all and he's been with them for years.

If either of us is going to be on a medication long term, we are required by his insurance to do mail order through ES of a 90 day supply.    

[ChynnaBlue]

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@newjersey wrote:

The pharmacist just told me that when she tried to fill a prescription for me, that it came up on her computer that it was denied because my insurance company wanted me to start taking only one pill a day of a med I'm on instead of two!   I've never heard of such a thing.   Has anyone else?     I will obviously have to call the insurance company on Monday and try to find out about this.     Any help is appreciated.   Thank you.   

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I would visit the pharmacy and get an in-person explanation. I've never had an insurance company want to cut my doseage in half,  but I've had the insurance company switch pills on me because I could take 1 of Option B instead of two of Option A for the same dosage. Both were the same medication, but the pills the doctor prescribed were Xmg and the pills the insurance company wanted to swap were 2Xmg.

[Lipstickdiva]

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@mousiegirl wrote:

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@hyacinth003 wrote:

My prescription plan (Caremark-part of CVS) called my doctor to ask if my medication could be changed from 5mg twice a day to 10mg once a day.  I believe it is a cost saving issue.

It bugged me, because I had read it was better to have the split dosage than a single one.

But, I would just expect more of this as health care gets less personal. 

Hyacinth

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@hyacinth003  You can cut the pills in half and still be able to take them twice a day since the mgs were raised.  You can buy the pill splitter at any pharmacy or probably elsewerhe too.

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I would never, ever do this unless I spoke to a doctor first and made sure it was okay.

[Moonchilde]

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@Lipstickdiva wrote:

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@mousiegirl wrote:

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@hyacinth003 wrote:

My prescription plan (Caremark-part of CVS) called my doctor to ask if my medication could be changed from 5mg twice a day to 10mg once a day.  I believe it is a cost saving issue.

It bugged me, because I had read it was better to have the split dosage than a single one.

But, I would just expect more of this as health care gets less personal. 

Hyacinth

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@hyacinth003  You can cut the pills in half and still be able to take them twice a day since the mgs were raised.  You can buy the pill splitter at any pharmacy or probably elsewerhe too.

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I would never, ever do this unless I spoke to a doctor first and made sure it was okay.

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I don't know that I would say never ever, but I have some healthcare knowledge. Many pills even come scored to be more easily splittable.

But it's a good idea to ask your doctor. Some medications are coated to slow the breakdown in your stomach (this is different than Extended Release) and when you cut them in half the "protection" is no longer there. I broke a "horse pill" medication in half. As soon as the broken pill hit my stomach I was horribly nauseated for the next two hours and almost lost my lunch. Some pills are not meant to be broken for reasons other than strictly dose.

[Miranda1550]

Call the Dr.

@newjersey

[newjersey]

Talked to my doctor and she is putting me on a 150 mg. once a day dosage of the medicine I talked about instead of 75 mg. twice a day.   She told me my insurance will pay for it.   

[Snoopp]

Someone I know had medicare supplemental insurance and CVS pharmacy told her they couldn't accept it.  She didn't want to get into a battle with them so she went to another drugstore and had no problem.  Sketchy.

[Moonchilde]

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@Snoopp wrote:

Someone I know had medicare supplemental insurance and CVS pharmacy told her they couldn't accept it.  She didn't want to get into a battle with them so she went to another drugstore and had no problem.  Sketchy.

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Medicare supplement insurance, as Part B medicare is referred to, does not cover prescription drugs.  Either you or she may be confused about that.

Medicare prescription insurance (Part D) is separate from any other Medicare supplement, and covers only prescriptions. And yes, it's entirely possible that any given pharmacy, CVS or not, won't accept every single Part D company out there.