Prescripition Meds

[jay3534]

My company has changed insurance companies and now my maintenance medications are not covered . Does anyone have experiences with any prescription plans ? Walmart does not have them on their plan.
Thanks

 

[nc redneck]

I have the same problem. NC State Employees Insurance tries to cancel monthly prescriptions about every 6 months. It causes myself and my doctor a lot of time to fix. 2 years ago they were on a program to fill a 30 day prescription with 15 pills ??????????
All of this has happened since Obama - Care has become Law.
I doubt I could ever make myself do it. BUT Best way to get Healthcare may be, stop working, get on unemployment and food stamps, oh and a free cell phone. As I understand it you will automatically be signed up for free health care. Plus a cool CC type thing "under food stamp program" that you can swipe at McDonalds or other fast food places.

 

[/pine]

just remember what caused this issue when you vote in Nov...

 

[oosik]

Unfortunately, I know exactly how you feel. I'm retired and my retirement health coverage covers my maintenance meds. Every year they contract with a different provider. I'm sure one of these days they will find a provider that does not cover prescriptions. Its such a PITA, you just get everything set and functioning just right and then you have to go thru a new provider - does the provider accept your current Dr, does your provider cover your meds.

Yes, /pine but exactly who do you see, on the horizon, that may be a good POTUS. And the way things are now-a-days, who in their right mind would want to be POTUS.

Try COSTCO - -

 

[texasjohn]

Well, the topic is health care and I'll try to keep it that way...but unavoidably it is tied to health programs if you are not independently insured...meaning you are either insuring yourself and paying for ALL medical expenses of whatever kind yourself and in cash... or you are going to be experiencing the impact of no health coverage, emergency room care at the expense of others, or some sort of costs divided between insurance premiums, deductibles and out of pocket expenses.

Since the OP and other posters are from North Carolina, I decided to see if the concerns were a NC thing.
From here... Politics of North Carolina - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Republicans decided to scale back state benefits in order to pay back an existing 2.8 billion unemployment debt to the federal government. The federal government refused to grant North Carolina a waiver from federal requirements.[SUP][8][/SUP] The Republican Speaker of the House Thom Tillis and Senate President Pro-Tem Phil Berger both requested the federal government extend emergency unemployment benefits to North Carolinians, but the Obama Administration denied the request. Paying back the 2.8 billion dollar unemployment debt to the federal government will save North Carolina taxpayers over 400 million in interest payments."

So, it could appear that the NC bureaucrats decided to put pressure on reducing health care payments, at the expense of those insured and health care providers, in order to pay back a debt and then asked for another government handout. No Obama Care mentioned.

However, the OP was concerned about where to turn to improve his health care situation. Perhaps this site would be a good start:

Obamacare Cost and Health Insurance Providers for Raleigh, NC lots of phone numbers and contact info.

I encourage the OP to do net research regarding his unique situation and hope that a better situation is found. I find that research is always better and provides more immediate and positive results than just reading inflammatory barbs.

 

[Pete Judd]

Since I only have Medicare, I use Prices, Coupons and Information - GoodRx for coupons to take to Walmart, to get the best price. Works for me, as I have been able to get my drugs cheaper than the old copay on the old plan.

 

[ultrarunner]

Sometimes the manufacturer will have programs for those in your situation.

I know a few that were able to get some relief.

You are right in that it may take a lot of effort and time.

I helped an 84 year old neighbor when his pension plan went all generic and his med was no longer covered.

I was a muti-prong approach by writing a letter to his Doctor and to contacting the local area representative for the pharmaceutical company...

One thing that helped right away is the drug rep left about 9 weeks of samples at the Docs office for my neighbor...

 

[jay3534]

Thank you all for your replies

 

[Gator6x4]

It's not that the cost of prescription drugs is rising - it's patients' out-of-pocket costs, or co-pays. One of the reasons for this is that insurance companies, reluctant to foot the bill for brand-name medications, have been refusing to cover more brand-name prescriptions. Most Insurance Companies have stopped paying for "Brand Name" medications. If your Doctor was prescribing Name Brand for your maintenance medications, call your Insurance Company about a Generic.

 

[WM75Guy]

You have to take control of your healthcare. What you doctor prescribes is driven by marketing. The drug reps make rounds providing perks and try to convince the physicians to prescribe drugs still under patent as they generate more revenue. Once the patent runs out then anyone can make a generic version of the drug which are usually just as effective and a lot cheaper. Nobody markets generics to doctor's offices.

You will be surprised at how cheap you can get your meds when you take control. A combination drug containing two different meds under patent may cost you $200/month. The same two drugs as individual generics are $4/month each at Walmart. Next time you go to the doctor print out the list of generic drugs from Walmart, CVS, etc. If you need a drug for the most common problems such as hypertension tell him/her to pick from the list instead of the high priced one he/she has been prescribing. Since there are 30 or so on the list one or two should work just fine for you.

Some pharmacies such as Walgreens has their own prescription plan. For $20/year you get a big discount on meds. Also shop prices between pharmacies. Not all have the same generics on their $4 plan.