OT: Mail Order Pharmacy Woes

[OldLincoln]

This is for those with poor DME experiences. Just a snapshot of my ongoing saga with Caremark - a mail order pharmacy I am required to use by insurance. I have been dealing with them for several years and you would think we would have an understanding by now, but I guess they will continue to push and continue to be sued by various states attorney generals.

Their thing is to substitute generic and change the number of refills, etc. Today I received once again a generic substitution even though the Rx was marked "Do not substitute - Dispense as written". They always include a nice form letter stating they have spoken with my doctor or staff and have been authorized to substitute generic. The only problem is that they have not contacted my doctor at all.

I have called them on this before and they say they faxed a form and the doctor responded with the OK. I tell them that the doctor told me he did not approve it and neither did his staff. Of course when I tell them to fax that OK to me they cannot do it from their workstations, etc. When I tell them to put me through to a supervisor who has the authority, they say they will give them a message to call me back - haven't yet.

So tomorrow I get to do this all over again. Almost like dealing with my ex-DME, only I cannot change pharmacies.

[Gale Hawkins]

Well soon with national health care these problems will be a thing of the past because the government will take care of it all.

[jules]

Caremark was a lot easier to deal with than Medco.

You have a choice actually - you can choose not to use insurance and get the Rx filled where you want and pay for it all.

But I do understand the frustration - as I said above my experience is that Medco is tons worse and I would take Caremark back any day over Medco. .

[ww]

For most private pay patients, the request is the opposite. Can't you find a generic that I can afford. I had to order generic Nexium from India and another prescription from Canada simply due to price. In almost all cases the desire to have the Brand when there is a generic available is a problem only shared by those that have good insurance and are not paying for the medicine themselves. Most medicare Part D will no longer pay for any brand when a generic is available and those that will charge so much more for it that you soon reach the donut in coverage and get to pay from ten times to twenty times the generic cost of the drugs.

Sorry, but I do not share your concern to buy the Brand product when a generic is exactly the same for 10% of the price! There are a few exceptions, but darned few!

[Goofproof]

I too have used Caremark for over five years, I do however allow them to substitute generic, If they don't they can charge the difference to me, that I don't want. I have had the refills change but I think that is due more to error than fraud. With the deal I get on scripts from them I can't complain too much, if I took them to Walgreen's (Same Company) with my INS, the cost would be 6 times higher in co-pays. I and the wife have 19 scripts with them, I wouldn't compare them with my DME. If they did as bad a job as my DME, we'd be long dead. I'm not saying there isn't room for improvement, I do wonder when I get a different filling of pills that change shape and color, but they usually kill a tree or to and tell me, I've never seen a company waste that much paper, do doubt the government makes then do that. Jim

[Goofproof]

Well soon with national health care these problems will be a thing of the past because the government will take care of it all.

Ya! Like that's going to fix anything, Free Pills to go with our Free Food, maybe the Government can step in and give us all Free SAT & Cable, and maybe a T1 line!

They are burning out 100 presses a day trying to print enough money with nothing to back it with but our grandkids sweat and tears. Jim