http://www.the4cs.org Congress of Connecticut Community Colleges Sat, 26 Nov 2011 00:30:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://www.the4cs.org/2011/09/30/maintenance-drug-program/#comment-598 Janet Lanci Sat, 26 Nov 2011 00:30:39 +0000 http://www.the4cs.org/?p=1012#comment-598 I went to my doctor and had my Maintenance medications changed to 90 days; I went to a designated pharmacy to have them filled. I only needed 5 of my 10 Maintenance prescriptions filled. They were not a controlled substance. The pharmacist stated that the insurance company would only fill one prescription for 90 days the other 4 were only for 30 days. When I spoke with them about this they stated they have the right to decide the amount of the drug that will be dispensed no matter what the doctor has written. Then there are 2 prescriptions that are controlled substances and not available in a generic form that are taken in my family for Maintenance medications. First the Prescription Plan representative stated the reason for this was I had to have the prescription written for 90 days and mail it in. Then I was switched to a supervisor and he said that they are not on the list of Maintenance medications (my son has been taking his med now for about 10 years and Mine I have been taking my for 2.5 years) so we must pay a 20 dollar co-pay vs the 10 dollar co-pay if it was on the list. How does a prescription plan decide how much they will fill in a prescription even though the doctor what’s a specific amount, or how can they decide when they are not your doctor what medications you are taking are Maintenance medications or not. Isn’t that up to the doctor? I am having multiple problems with this new plan. I went to my doctor and had my Maintenance medications changed to 90 days; I went to a designated pharmacy to have them filled. I only needed 5 of my 10 Maintenance prescriptions filled. They were not a controlled substance. The pharmacist stated that the insurance company would only fill one prescription for 90 days the other 4 were only for 30 days. When I spoke with them about this they stated they have the right to decide the amount of the drug that will be dispensed no matter what the doctor has written. Then there are 2 prescriptions that are controlled substances and not available in a generic form that are taken in my family for Maintenance medications. First the Prescription Plan representative stated the reason for this was I had to have the prescription written for 90 days and mail it in. Then I was switched to a supervisor and he said that they are not on the list of Maintenance medications (my son has been taking his med now for about 10 years and Mine I have been taking my for 2.5 years) so we must pay a 20 dollar co-pay vs the 10 dollar co-pay if it was on the list. How does a prescription plan decide how much they will fill in a prescription even though the doctor what’s a specific amount, or how can they decide when they are not your doctor what medications you are taking are Maintenance medications or not. Isn’t that up to the doctor? I am having multiple problems with this new plan.

]]> http://www.the4cs.org/2011/09/30/maintenance-drug-program/#comment-290 Mary Ryan Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:52:52 +0000 http://www.the4cs.org/?p=1012#comment-290 The choice to pick up prescription drugs from the pharmacy of our choice should not have been taken from us! I don't want mail order, nor do I want 3 months worth of controlled drugs in my home. I don't want to wait in line for 20 min at CVS while they rifle through hundreds of bags of prescriptions looking for mine. I want to be able to support the small business owner of the independant pharmacy that we have been using for years. With unemployment as high as it is, why is the State of CT and Caremark trying to add to the unemployed by trying to shut down small indepenant pharmacies? The choice to pick up prescription drugs from the pharmacy of our choice should not have been taken from us! I don’t want mail order, nor do I want 3 months worth of controlled drugs in my home. I don’t want to wait in line for 20 min at CVS while they rifle through hundreds of bags of prescriptions looking for mine. I want to be able to support the small business owner of the independant pharmacy that we have been using for years. With unemployment as high as it is, why is the State of CT and Caremark trying to add to the unemployed by trying to shut down small indepenant pharmacies?

]]> http://www.the4cs.org/2011/09/30/maintenance-drug-program/#comment-100 Greg Banks Tue, 11 Oct 2011 20:58:17 +0000 http://www.the4cs.org/?p=1012#comment-100 The information in the 3 paragraphs following the link to the maintenance meds list is incorrect. 1) Current meds are being immediately denied refill if they are NOT 90 days (ie. NO one refill, then mailorder), 2) It is the patient's responsibility to have one's doctor change the prescrip to 90 days (from 30 days), NOT the pharmacist, 3) One does NOT have to sign up for CVS/Caremark mailorder, merely have their doctor send the prescrip to a participating pharmacy (eg. Stop & Shop) - this part is good news; plus, they confirmed that the actual prescrip will be filled on site of the local pharmacy by your local pharmacist (ie. NOT mailed to them as a mere drop-off point). Spent one hour today talking w/ CVS/Caremark Customer Service office (in Pittsburgh) to get all the answers - after a simple short-term use muscle relaxant was denied coverage since it was only for 30 days; and, they told me it would have been covered had it been for 90 days (ie. the maintance med list is grossly incomplete - NON-maintenance meds are being considered maintanence meds by CVS/Caremark and are hence being denied coverage UNLESS they're written for 90 days). I was told this was a new update (via a CVS/Caremark interoffice e-mail) today. Hope this helps the many others who are having their meds denied coverage. Best advice is immediately ck one's CVS/Caremark account's prescription history after submitting a med refill and it will show if it's accepted (denied do not show up at all) - this system is literally simultaneous (ie. if you electronically submit a refill to your local pharmacy, even if it's closed for the day, your CVS/Caremark acct will show if it's been accepted). The information in the 3 paragraphs following the link to the maintenance meds list is incorrect. 1) Current meds are being immediately denied refill if they are NOT 90 days (ie. NO one refill, then mailorder), 2) It is the patient’s responsibility to have one’s doctor change the prescrip to 90 days (from 30 days), NOT the pharmacist, 3) One does NOT have to sign up for CVS/Caremark mailorder, merely have their doctor send the prescrip to a participating pharmacy (eg. Stop & Shop) – this part is good news; plus, they confirmed that the actual prescrip will be filled on site of the local pharmacy by your local pharmacist (ie. NOT mailed to them as a mere drop-off point). Spent one hour today talking w/ CVS/Caremark Customer Service office (in Pittsburgh) to get all the answers – after a simple short-term use muscle relaxant was denied coverage since it was only for 30 days; and, they told me it would have been covered had it been for 90 days (ie. the maintance med list is grossly incomplete – NON-maintenance meds are being considered maintanence meds by CVS/Caremark and are hence being denied coverage UNLESS they’re written for 90 days). I was told this was a new update (via a CVS/Caremark interoffice e-mail) today. Hope this helps the many others who are having their meds denied coverage. Best advice is immediately ck one’s CVS/Caremark account’s prescription history after submitting a med refill and it will show if it’s accepted (denied do not show up at all) – this system is literally simultaneous (ie. if you electronically submit a refill to your local pharmacy, even if it’s closed for the day, your CVS/Caremark acct will show if it’s been accepted).

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