Tuesday, February 26, 2013

New Year, New Insurance!

     Doesn't everyone just love the new year? With every new year, patients have new insurance. They never have their new car, and we always have to reprocess their prescriptions wasting precious time. Always bring in your new card or go online and write or print the Rx BIN, Rx PCN, Rx Group, and Rx ID#. This would save us about 5-10 minutes for each patient. If I have to call your insurance, it usually takes anywhere from 10-20 minutes. Most of the time, we don't have time to do this. This takes away from counseling on medications, filling prescriptions, and helping patients find the correct OTC product for their colds/flu.
      Most patients do not know their copays and deductibles. It changes every year and usually increases. I am limited on the information that I have from your old or new insurance company. You can usually find your formulary and prices of your medications online from your insurance company. Also, you could call them, and they would tell you the exact price of the medication your doctor has prescribed.
     Just before the new year, a lot of the over 65 patients come into the pharmacy asking what the best Medicare Part D program is for them. Please do some research on this yourself. You can always call 1-800-Medicare or if you know how to use a computer medicare.gov. This would save your pharmacist a lot of time and probably ensure that you receive the correct medication, dose, instructions, strength, and quantity. The pharmacy corporations continue to cut our hours. We have less and less help. Thank you for understanding.
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