Re: 💊Will Your Prescription Meds Be Covered 2017?... - Page 2

meem120 · ‎03-09-2010

So basically these " drug stores" are telling the patient what your doctor can prescribe for your ailment...yes i know you can always pay for it. But come on, thats not a solution for everyone

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

What I saw on the news in regard to this was that they will pay for the generic equivalent of the drugs, so I don't see the problem. We have used generic drugs in the hospital my entire career since 1966. No reason to have to have name brands.

Moonchilde · ‎05-23-2010

@151949 wrote:
What I saw on the news in regard to this was that they will pay for the generic equivalent of the drugs, so I don't see the problem. We have used generic drugs in the hospital my entire career since 1966. No reason to have to have name brands.

When a similar thread on this topic was posted a month or two ago, with a link to find out at that time what changes were being made, I checked my medications and I called Silverscript (CVS' Plan D) just to be absolutely clear, though I thought I "got it" - and I did.

As you say, in most cases they will not pay for the named brand but will still pay for the generic of that named brand. In some instances they may not pay for one generic but will pay for another that is very similar in chemical make-up.

People need to become proactive about reminding their doctors to prescribe only generics for them unless it's life-threatening. Generics are our future, like it or not, and many if not most of us don't have the discretionary income to enable us to pay for whatever branded medications we would like.

The layman has been given an innate fear and loathing of generics by the drug companies via lobbyists and the media. I have been taking generic everything for the past 20 years and have only felt once that I wanted/needed the branded version of something, which I paid for. But that was back in the day. Today I might not be so inclined to pay for it, with current co-pays.

I understand the importance with cancer and debilitating disease treatment - to me, that's almost a separate issue. But just your everyday medications? Generic is no big deal.

Life without Mexican food is no life at all

ALRATIBA · ‎07-15-2016

My prescription coverage is through my Medicare supplemental insurance (retirement benefit). The one prescription I take is very inexpensive - and it's a generic.

If there was something my doctor prescribed and wasn't covered by insurance, I'd just pay for it myself.

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

@ALRATIBA wrote:
My prescription coverage is through my Medicare supplemental insurance (retirement benefit). The one prescription I take is very inexpensive - and it's a generic.

If there was something my doctor prescribed and wasn't covered by insurance, I'd just pay for it myself.

You clearly don't understand that most of the drugs that are non formulary are so because they are extremely expensive, hundresd of dollars a month. Many people just CAN NOT pay for them.

Trinity11 · ‎11-16-2014

@ALRATIBA wrote:
My prescription coverage is through my Medicare supplemental insurance (retirement benefit). The one prescription I take is very inexpensive - and it's a generic.

If there was something my doctor prescribed and wasn't covered by insurance, I'd just pay for it myself.

My doctor prescribed Repatha after an MI and it cost about 15 thousand dollars a year. Would you be able to pay for that yourself? If so, you are very, very lucky.

Anniecamp · ‎03-12-2010

This type of thing is so frustrating. Just my prescription needs that my supplement Part D covers, it still requires me paying well over $1200 per month. When is this madness going to stop?!

SilleeMee · ‎05-22-2016

I don't have but one rx, a cheap statin. After reading this thread and seeing what some of you pay out of your pocket for your drugs is startling to say the least ! It scares me to death.

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

@Anniecamp wrote:
This type of thing is so frustrating. Just my prescription needs that my supplement Part D covers, it still requires me paying well over $1200 per month. When is this madness going to stop?!

Have you tried to find a different company that will cover your prescriptions or has your doctor tried to get the insurance to cover them? My husband was on a drug for his diabetes that went non formulary so he was paying out of pocket for it until our doctor convinced the insurance to cover it for him. Also have you looked into buying your Rx in Canada where the gov't regulates how much they can charge for drugs?

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

Hospital pharmacists go to each and every company that offers a drug and they price it out -who gets the business is who offers the best price - and you can bet that they are generic.It is indeed a rare occasion for a hospital pharmacy to use a brand name - usually only when there is no generic available yet. Generics are just as good quality as brand name, and there is no reason not to use them. Do you think if a person has an allergic reaction in the hospital to a drug that they give epi from an epipen? Absolutely not - generic epi all the way.