My insurance allows me to use Medco to purchase antibiotics in bulk (3 month supplies for roughly 10 bucks a med - great deal).
However, they recently red flagged my account and called my doctor to ask what we're treating. My LLMD had to say Lyme... and as a result Medco has cut me off (they follow IDSA guidelines & they won't supprt longterm treatment)
Does anyone know a good place to get my prescriptions filled for cheap?
My doctor is willing to help me, so I just need to find a supplier/pharmacy.
Posted by kgg (Member # 5867) on :
I have heard Costco is good for lower prices. And you don't need a membership. You tell them at the door that you are going to the pharmacy.
Posted by faithful777 (Member # 22872) on :
OMG, I have express scripts which was just merged with Medco. They are a pain in the you know where. They save me money but it sounds like they may cut me off too. I have had them since January for my bulk pharmacy.
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
Same here faithful. I do not fill any lyme prescriptions from medco or any other mail in pharmacy.
Our plan changed to Medco and I have intentionally NOT gotten 3 mos supplies for fear this would happen.
So far, I have been filling my scripts monthly (very low co-pay) and have not had an issue.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
UGH... I lost my Caremark too ... to Medco/Express Scripts. They are indeed a pain in the B!!
Posted by faithful777 (Member # 22872) on :
So you can get past this by going to a local pharmacy. Normally not a problem until you consider what Mepron costs!!!!! I hate it but have to take it.
Does anyone know how medicare views abx for Lyme?
Posted by canefan17 (Member # 22149) on :
faithful,
What do you mean you can get past it by going to local pharmacy.
My local pharmacy will fill my prescriptions - but at retail price (for Rifampin thats 250+ dollars, etc)
Is there no where else to get cheap antibiotics ala Medco/Express Scripts?
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
You can usually get a 30 day supply at your local pharmacy through your insurance company. My co-pay is the same per month whether I get it a medco or my local pharmacy. Restrictions may apply depending on your insurance company.
Posted by faithful777 (Member # 22872) on :
I think you can get a 30 day prescription from a local pharmacy but can't dot the 90 day mail away.
My LLMD is already seeing prescriptions refused from her patients who mail them in.
Posted by Razzle (Member # 30398) on :
Another option is to get prescriptions from Canada. We've had good luck with bigmountaindrugs.com for some meds that were very expensive (before they went generic in the US).
Posted by Pam08 (Member # 19203) on :
Wow I guess I was lucky...or maybe my LLMD was creative with her prescription codes. I don't know. But I used Medco for quite a while before my insurance switched to Caremark. Medco never gave me any problems with all my prescriptions. Thank goodness!!!
Unfortunately I don't have any suggestions for getting cheaper meds. The only thing I can think of is to try to fight it like Terry suggested.
Posted by Catgirl (Member # 31149) on :
Bummer. I read last year where someone was having problems once opting for the mail order program, so I've avoided it.
Medco/Express scripts has a computer program which flags doses that fall out of the normal dosage. So the pharmacies are forced to contact the Dr's office to verify the dosage.
Maybe your state legislature can help you.
Posted by faithful777 (Member # 22872) on :
Unfortunately I pay a lot more to go through a local pharmacy than to use mail order, but I would rather do that than have to go to an overseas pharmacy all the time.
They are nasty people to deal with. When they merged in January with Express scripts I had already made my move to CO. I did not change my address with them right away as my husband was going back and forth from VA to here.
When I finally changed my address before prescriptions were sent out, they sent them to the VA address and of course no one was there any more. As messed up as their computer system was then, they sent out replacements and billed me again saying it was my fault and I didn't change my address before they sent the medicine.
They don't send a confirmation when you change your address so it is my word against theirs I am disputing it with my bank. $75 is a lot of money!!!
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
It took me about 2 months to clear up some issues with Express/Medco. I had to talk to probably 3 supervisors and they still couldn't fix it. Even they were annoyed.
Posted by Rumigirl (Member # 15091) on :
Medco has been horrible for me for years---denying coverage of meds, only covering 6 pills of Alinia for $35, severely limiting the amount of any med that my drs rx.
And I NEVER won on appealing it. BUT, I did usually (not always) win on having my dr apply for a Quantity Exception, when they limited the amount per month.
But now that they have merged with Express Scripts, it's waaay worse!! Plus, they are slower than molasses at sending out the med, and then I am out of it.
The amount of denials and hassles are endless with both of them.
If your dr in the future could truthfully (or slightly stretching it?) say that the med was for one of the co-infections, that would be more likely to work, as they wouldn't know anything about them.
One other really important thing that most people don't know: when your dr rx's IV abx or Bicillin, that should be filled through Major Medical, not your pharmacy benefit. And once your plan has covered the amount they allow for Lyme (usually 28 days), you can then usually get it covered by not having preauthorized.
Instead, buy it out of pocket through Infuserve (or simlar), and have them submit it to insurance. More often than not, it is covered without questions. It doesn't work for everyone, but it often does work.
[ 03-04-2013, 05:54 AM: Message edited by: Rumigirl ]
Posted by trimom (Member # 25843) on :
You can get abx from India without a prescription. Many are very inexpensive.
Posted by xoxoxox (Member # 18778) on :
I feel your pain. It feels like Medco is holding me hostage. No doubt my file has been flagged as a "problem patient" for the numerous issues I've had to call them about.
Hope you are able to find a workaround.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :