Prescriptions through mail order

Marie5656

Marie5656

SF VIP
Location
Batavia, NY
My husband just had suggested to him to try getting his meds via mail order, as he may save money on a couple of the higher cost meds he is on. Does anyone here use mail order? Are doctors on board with it?

Do you see any savings in cost? What about reliability of delivery? He is on insulin, which needs refrigeration. How do they handle something like that?

He wants me to research a bit, and since he knows I come here, he said for me to "ask those other old people you talk with" about it. I have told him I get great info here.

Thanks
 

Wish I could be of some help, I only just signed up to have my meds delivered as of a couple of days ago, so I won't start getting mine for at least another week or two. I do know my friend and neighbor gets them delivered and she likes it, she had suggested it to me, but, I just only signed up when I go the letter from Humana. So far the cost is definitely less expensive and they send it in batches of 90 day supply and in my case at the same price I would have paid for one month supply.
 
I use ExpressScripts, but I only have one Rx for blood pressure medicine (Lisinopril). I get 3 months at a time for less than $2. It is cheap but the main reason I use it is for convenience. My doctor's office will use whatever facility I designate for prescriptions.

Not sure about meds that need refrigeration, though.
 

I get my 90-day mailorder scrips through Wegman's at a slightly reduced cost over going to the local pharmacy for 30-day supplies.

Wegman's handles the interaction with the PCP and mails the orders automatically as they become due. They send me an email when an order is processed and notify of the amount that they have billed my credit card, the shipping is free. You can also place the orders yourself using an online portal.

I still get my insulin from the local pharmacy because Wegman's sends insulin with an ice pack overnight using FedEx, I'm afraid that I will miss them because I live in a security building.

I also use the local pharmacy for new prescriptions or when the PCP is adjusting my medication. It is easier and faster for me than waiting, the approx. 14 days, for Wegmans to set up a new prescription and get it to me.
 
I only have limited experience with and it was before I started Medicare. My health insurance company bought a mail order pharmacy company and hounded me until I switched over to them. I wasn't happy with the service. I would get an email saying that they were working on my prescription. That meant that somewhere between 4 days and 2 weeks later I could expect the envelope by my front door via mail. Our neighborhood was having problems with package thefts at the time and I found it to be frustrating not knowing when it would come. The other problem I had was that it seemed like with every new delivery, they had switched to a different generic brand for most of my prescriptions. I decided after a few months that I would rather pay the higher copay and get my prescriptions from Walgreens.

When I got my Medicare Part D plan, I chose the Walgreens plan.

This is just one person's experience with one company, so you shouldn't give it too much importance.
 
We have a problem in this neighborhood of having things stolen from the mail, so I would be reluctant to use mail order for a life and death scrip like insulin.

Having said that, however, my dog requires an injectable veterinary medication for which there is no local source, so I must order it online. It requires refrigeration so they ship it fedex overnight with some sort of ice packs. I have a deal with the fedex people about where they should leave it where it is unlikely to be stolen, and I track it so I can watch for it. Drives me nuts that I have to do it this way, but there truly is no local source, so I have no other choice. So far it has worked.

I used to have the fedex people just push the package through the decorative wrought iron around my porch, BUT a few months ago the contents of another package that was pushed through the iron were stolen. Evidently the thieves couldn't figure out how to get the box through the bars, so they used a long stick to pull it close enough to the bars where they could reach through, open the box and take the contents. Makes me sick!
 
When I had to be in assisted living for a while in 2017, a Walgreens fedexed my meds to me including insulin with a giant cold pack, but it was a few miles away, not across the country & it saved my daughter many trips. Also it was delivered to the facility intake desk & they had to sign for it & deliver it to me immediately. I wouldn't do it otherwise, too much chance of being exposed to too much heat or cold, theft, damage,, & if they sent the wrong stuff, hard to get the error corrected.
 
I used to get mine by mail order because with my plan I could get a 90 day supply that way for the same co-pay amount as two 30 day supplies at the pharmacy.

However one time my prescriptions got delivered to the wrong address. Fortunately the person that got them by mistake brought them to me. Then another time the prescription didn't arrive at all. Apparently it got lost, or stolen. I doubt stolen because none of my prescriptions are for stuff you can get high on. I called the insurance company and they were good about it. They sent me a replacement at no charge, but still it didn't give me a good feeling. Then later on my insurance started allowing me to pick up the 90 day supply at the pharmacy for the same co=pay, so that's the way I do it now.
 
Trade...he can get his generic in 90 day supplies from Walgreens, but not the two that have no generic equivalent. Just 30 on them.
 
My Medicare Advantage plan comes with a drug mail order plan. My doctor and I love it. For short term meds my plan uses Walgreens until I get the 90 day supply from them. My meds are tier 2 which means they are free. I go online and refill and if I do not have a refill left they fax a request to the doc who approves and faxes back to them. Never have had a problem with not getting them. Works for me. Humana also has great cs reps that have helped me above and beyond in getting my meds. When I am at the Pcp's office, he orders or changes meds online while I am there. His office calls in the next few days to confirm any changes he has made. I can also check the clinic's patient portal to see all my info.
 
Trade said:
I used to get mine by mail order because with my plan I could get a 90 day supply that way for the same co-pay amount as two 30 day supplies at the pharmacy.

However one time my prescriptions got delivered to the wrong address. Fortunately the person that got them by mistake brought them to me. Then another time the prescription didn't arrive at all. Apparently it got lost, or stolen. I doubt stolen because none of my prescriptions are for stuff you can get high on. I called the insurance company and they were good about it. They sent me a replacement at no charge, but still it didn't give me a good feeling. Then later on my insurance started allowing me to pick up the 90 day supply at the pharmacy for the same co=pay, so that's the way I do it now.
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That's similar to what happened to us when we lived in TX. At the time, hubby was taking a couple things (nothing anyone would want to sell on the street) and our insurance had a mail service. One time, his Rx didn't come so I tracked it down and the mail order company had the wrong address! After sending it for months...all of a sudden they had the wrong address! So, they sent it out again. Never got it. Called again. They didn't believe me and was very rude about it. They never sent it out again. We had to have a new Rx called in to our local drug store by our doctor. It was a mess. We'll never again use one of those mail order places.
 
I have been getting mine now for several years without one problem. You can always use the tracking code to see here your scripts are at any time. I signed up for the updates and can get them by text or email. Once Humana sends an email to say its been shipped, I start tracking it until I get it. Very easy to do and most of all, the meds and tracking are all free. Like I said I have never had one lost or delivered to the wrong address.
 

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