Your thoughts and opinions about medicines

[DisMN]

Currently we are covered for meds through DH work but we do still pay a co-pay for them. It varies from $12-$22 for each Rx I get.

Am seriously considering switching over to the Walmart $10 prescription program. Has anyone done this and if so have you had any issues?
All the meds I take are listed at the $10 price not to mention my particular meds are for 180 days instead of the usual 90.
I can see considerable savings by switching but am wondering if there's something I don't know about.

 

[DisneyNutMic]

I use it all of the time for my prescriptions that are on the list. Works great for me.

 

[mrsxsparrow]

Have you been to the websites of any of your meds? I'm on one prescription that doesn't have a generic and was a $30 co-pay each month. However, I visited their website and they had a "loyalty" card that I could sign up for. All I did was put in my name and printed out a card. The pharmacy input it as secondary insurance and now I don't pay anything.

Might be something to look in to.

 

[worm761]

If they are the same meds and it is cheaper, change. Some of the pharmacies and grocery stores have the same thing around here. I know Target and Publix do. Those might be worth looking into. I know Publix has some meds free.


I won't use my Walmart here but it is the people. I just can't go back. First, they gave me powder in a bottle for the penicillin. When I called to ask how I was supposed to use the powder, the freaked. They put it in the done bag and labeled it without adding the water to it. Nice. What if I hadn't called? Then, DS had to get ADHD meds. I dropped them off. The said an hour. Went back after two. Not done, 45 mins. Leave and come back in a hour. Not done, another hour. Leave and come back. At this point it had been almost 6 HOURS since I had dropped off the script. They said it wasn't done again. I got angry. I asked why it wasn't done. She said they were backed up. I asked for over 6 hours? They forgot my sons script! Suddenly it was done in 10 mins. Then she rings it in and tells me $160. I said no, I have a $40 copay. Oh, You want me to run it through the insurance? No. I like paying four times what I have to! Yes, run it through the insurance. <---That was my last straw with them. I don't have the patience to deal with them.

 

[webcs]

Currently we are covered for meds through DH work but we do still pay a co-pay for them. It varies from $12-$22 for each Rx I get.

Am seriously considering switching over to the Walmart $10 prescription program. Has anyone done this and if so have you had any issues?
All the meds I take are listed at the $10 price not to mention my particular meds are for 180 days instead of the usual 90.
I can see considerable savings by switching but am wondering if there's something I don't know about.

The drug stores inside of walmart are run by trained pharmacists, so they are just as good as CVS or anywhere. CVS is basically a convenience store with a pharmacy in the back, same difference.

 

[Green Tea]

You don't have to switch anything. Keep your insurance, just tell Walmart or Kroger or whichever store you choose to not run it thru the insurance, you want to fill it under the $4 deal.

 

[Leajess99]

Personally I won't use a Walmart pharmacy but that is a personal choice. I will use Sam's Club as I have yet to have a problem with them. Like a pp I have dealt with them taking forever to get a perscription ready and that was not acceptable. They even checked to see if they had the med before agreeing to fill it and when I returned to pick it up they did not have it. The pharmacist was looking for the wrong medicine so if they had had it than my youngest would have more than likely been given the wrong medicine.

I also won't use Walgreens unless I have no other choice. The last 2 times I went there they did not have the medicine after telling me they did. One was my son's ADHD med in which they checked and said they had it and asked when I wanted to pick it up so I said the next day. It seems that everyone turning in a prescription for it after me got it and they no longer had enough for my kid. They never even called to tell me this and then when I got there they said the next town over had it and they were open until 9. I took my prescription to Sam's club where they had it and it was ready in 10 minutes. The next time I had a prescription for my son was the same deal, they did not have the med. The one time Sam's club was out they gave me a partial fill so my child had what was needed and the full fill was there the next day.

 

[ajh88]

Agree with the PP who said that you don't have to do anything to "switch." It isn't something you have to sign up for - you can just requrest they not run it through on your insurance because you want to pay the cash price (from the $4/$10 list). The only thing I will caution you about is that if you get another prescription filled at the store and you DO want it on insurance, be sure to let them know - if you have a history of paying cash for everything, they may not realize you have insurance (the computer system can be funky that way - it doesn't necessarily "alert" the user there is insurance in there unless they look for it).

Oh, and another caution - check the quantities you can get for $4 or $10. It is considered a "typical" 30 day supply, but that doesn't necessarily work for everyone. For example, you take Drug X, which is typically given twice a day, so you can get 60 pills for $4 (or 180 pills for $10). However, you take the drug 3 times a day, so a 30 day supply is 90 pills (instead of 60). You will end up paying more. It isn't $4 no matter how many you need - it is $4 for a pre-defined quantity. You can certainly get more, but it will cost you more. I've had to explain this to people numerous times.


And just to get on my soapbox for a moment - I understand as a customer how frustrating it is to have to wait a very long time and then find out they are out of stock of the medication I need or to have some other issue crop up. Pharmacies certainly make mistakes in terms of customer service - like temporarily misplacing a prescription or neglecting to run something on an insurance - but having walked MANY miles in those shoes now, I would just request a bit of patience and understanding (within reason). Six hours for something to be filled or an antibiotic that wasn't mixed are certainly very legitimate gripes (and ones the definitely should be mentioned to the manager) - but every once in awhile, something gets away from you. I myself have been guilty of taking prescription after prescription when many people have been in line to drop them off - and lo and behold, 30 minutes later I haven't had the chance to even get the first ones scanned in yet because of additional customers, phone calls, etc. It is never on purpose - I don't like getting yelled at (or having an angry customer) any more than the customer likes to be angry. But certainly, how you handle the upset customer is more important in the long run and not very many stores (regardless of the chain) handle that very well these days. OK, off my soapbox now and sorry for being so OT!

 

[SandrA9810]

Most stores participate in the low 4$ generics. You can request that they run it through without the insurance to get the 4$ price, rather than your co-pay.

My aunt had many straws pulled with the Walgreens she'd go to. The biggest fight, was my grandmother could only take the name brand drug. She has insurance Humana as well as Medicare, so she has the option to take the name brand (Medicare patients are to always fill with a generic unless noted by the doctor). One too many times they filled her prescription with the generic even though there was all CAPS note next to her name saying Name Brand ONLY kepra.
I convinced my aunt to go to the new super Target store at grand opening last year, and she transfered all the prescriptions. Now she gets the 10$ gift cards for the store any time she brings in a new prescription. The latest one, was an antibiotic cost 4$, and got a $10 gift card, so free money.