last minute question about meds

[airhead]

My SO forgot(even though there were MANY reminders!!!) to check her asthma med supply. Well,she will runout of meds while we're there. She thinks her insurance won't pay to fill her perscriptions early and she'll have to pay out of pocket. Is that true?? People go on vacation all the time,they must be able to get a supply! Anyone know?

 

[linnettevl]

Hi:
I know that when I run out of medication early my insurance will not pay for them, but I usually call my doctor to get me a new prescription and call the pharmacy . I never had a problem, and the medication will be cover by insurance, also Do You always go to the same place to get your refill? I always go to the same pharmacy and if I run out of medicine I will call and let them know, the pharmacy will dispense my medication ( same pharmacy for over 15yrs) or give me enough medicine to cover for the days that I ran out.
I hope this helps...
Linnette

PS: Because she will be on vacation tell your SO to call the doctor and tell him/her that she'll be on vacation I that she needs a new prescription to cover for the time that she'll be on vacation, for example instead of 30 days supplies she will need 45 days. I did this and my doctor call me to the office to give me free samples of the asthma medicine that we needed for my boys and also gave the new prescription to refill at the pharmacy. I called the insurance just to make sure that medicines will be cover out of state and found out that it was not covered, so make sure that before the trip you call your insurance to find out the policies regarding out of state prescription coverage.

 

[SueM in MN]

She should call the pharmacy today and explain she will be out of town when her prescription runs out. The Pharmacist should be able to work something out under that situation with the insurance company, or just dispense a partial fill of the prescription early. Maybe a little harder if she needs them 2 weeks early than if she needs them a few days early. Insurance companies are usually more concerned about people trying to get more than a month supply at one time (they are afraid you are trying to bypass the co-pay).
If it comes to her having to pay out of pocket because the insurance says she's refilling it too early, she can send the receipt to the insurance, asking to be reimbursed along with a letter to explain why she had to fill it early - they may say no the first time, so she may have to be persistant and send it back a few times.

 

[mommystieg]

Definitely try asking the pharmacist-I just did this on our recent trip. My insurance wouldn't pay to refill until Friday but we were leaving early that morning so the pharmacist "loaned" me enough to last me until we got back.

 

[don8life]

Insurance will usually pay 4-5 days early without a problem. I called our insurance caseworker and she preappoved for this time since we are going on vacation. I don't know if everyone has a case worker or just the chronically ill. we have a wonderful case worker as luck would have it her father had a liver transplant by the same surgeon my daughter had her liver transplant from. So she knows exactly what we go through and makes things go as smooth as possible
Good Luck!

 

[airhead]

You guys are awesome!!!

 

[tarmand]

I would call my doctor and ask if he could give me enough samples to last me through my vacation. That way she could refill when you guys return and it will save her a bit of money. My doctor always gives me samples when I go just to help me out with the high cost of my asthama meds.