No, no, no, that price ain't right!

We have this male patient about 50 years old come into our pharmacy once a week. First, he walks really funny on his tippy toes like when you see a 3 year old (yo) super excited.  He talks in the most crazy sounding voice like a 13 yo going through puberty. By the way, yo means year old. Sorry for the medical field lingo. Anyways, none of this is about my point. The patient came in with his new insurance but didn't want his Xanax to go through insurance nor his discount card. Of course, first thing you think is he is a junkie, but he comes to our pharmacy all the time and never gets his Xanax early. We would never let him anyway unless the MD says it is fine this one time. We have heard it all! Well, he wants us to run his insurance, don't run his insurance, run the discount card, do it as cash, who knows. So, we mixed up some times.  So, he wanted the price on the generic drug, alprazolam. I told him for #90, it is $39.99 with no insurance and no discount.  He looks at me then looks at his bottle, then looks at me and says, "that's not right, 39.99, that's just not right." He walks away, walks right back, and says, "39.99 that's not right, not right, it's not right." Meanwhile, I already printed out the pricing sheet to give to him. I hand it to him, and he mumbles to himself.  When he finally left, I turn to my technicians and say just print it out. Why would I lie about the price? No, it is not with your discount card, nor your insurance. You said cash price. That is the cash price. We put it into the computer, and it spits it out.  Call corporate, if you have a problem.  On that matter, call your INSURANCE if you have a problem with the cost of your medicine or copay. Blame your employer!

No! We don't have Oxycontin 30 #180

We keep getting calls at my pharmacy for Oxycontin 30 mg #180 or #120. We do not have it, and I cannot order it. We do not keep it in the safe, and we never have it on hand. Do not ask for Xanax, Soma, and then for the Oxycontin 30. Yes, Roxicodone and Oxycontin and oxycodone ER are the same drug. Do not ask for either one. Definitely, do not call! People are calling every day, sometimes 2 to 3 times a day from the same person. Now, they are actually coming into my pharmacy and requesting their fake or legit scripts to be filled. We have caught one drug dealer and addict, already. Do NOT come to my pharmacy, or any pharmacy! Maybe a 24 hour pharmacy or hospital pharmacy can fill it for you.

Bringing Back Medication to the Pharmacy!

A couple of days ago, I had a lady came into the pharmacy to return a medication.  What in the world makes you think you can return medication?  If you pay a copay of $10 or $25 or whatever the pharmacy loses all of the money for the medication as well as the services of filling the medication and paying for the pharmacist and technicians.  Let's say the drug costs the pharmacy $100, and you pay $25 copay with your insurance.  You pay $25 and the insurance company will pay us $85 dollars for a total of $110.  The pharmacy will receive $10 for the pharmacist, the technician, and all the operating costs.  If you return the medication, the insurance company doesn't let us keep the money it gave us, and you get your copay back.  We can't return the medication to our supplier because it is damaged.  We have no idea what you did to the medication even if you did not open it.  You could have left it in you car in the extreme heat or something else.  We cannot dispense it to another person because it is against the law.  She tried to return Voltaren Gel.  She was prescribed too much from the doctor and wanted to return the unopened packs.  I politely declined.  She was so upset, and said she would complain.  My district manager said she had my back, but the patient never called.  We would lose about $200 if I took it back.  Even today a young lady called me and said her doctor called in the wrong medication.  She wanted to return it and exchange it for the correct antibiotic.  I said we could not refund her the money, but she needed to get her doctor to pay for the wrong medication.  You all know how that would go...nowhere.  The best thing to do is question your med at the pick up window.  If it is not what you want, take a moment and call whoever you need to...the doctor, your mom, the patient you are picking up for.  In all cases leave the medication at the pharmacy.  We can usually hold it for 13 days per insurance.  Oh, I know.  You are in such a hurry for a wedding, a flight, a party, or work.  Call ahead of time or set it up on auto refill.

Cobra Insurance. The Greatest Government Program Ever!

Cobra is one of the worst government agencies ever.  I have patients come in everyday saying, "I'm on Cobra, and I paid an ungodly amount of money.  Why is it not going through?"  I had this lady come in and say she was on Cobra.  Her husband had lost his job, and they were paying $1000 a month for insurance through Cobra.  He needed a $150 medication, and Cobra would not pay for it.  She started to get very irate.  She called Cobra and started cussing them out about not paying for her husband's meds.  She saw on her bank statement that they cashed her check, and she wanted her insurance to work.  They kept giving her the run around and finally came up with this doosy.  Cobra said that it takes a few months for it to be processed through and insurance to work.  Please keep your receipts, and you will be refunded the money you spent.  I just don't get it.  Pay $1000 and for all your meds and MAYBE we will pay you back.  Awesome, Right?!

Update Your Insurance!

The other day I had this crazy old man come into the pharmacy complaining about how much his prescriptions (Rx's) were costing.  He was saying that he had been paying way too much for his meds.  I asked him if there were any changes in insurance the previous ten times he had come in, and he had always said no.  We kept billing the Wellpoint insurance he had.  When he finally called his insurance, they said they had changed his plan to Anthem, and he was supposed to have received a new insurance card in the mail.  His previous insurance would still go through, but it only gave him a discount.  The new insurance gave him lower copays.  Anyway, he lost about $10,000 dollars because he never updated his insurance.  He is in the process of trying to get all those claims backbilled through the new insurance, but we all know how much health insurance companies suck!