Re: meds - chain pharmacies vs mail order pharmacy

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/14/2006 12:19:28 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

lainie121@... writes:

...but I want to know if any of you are having to pay $144.00 for Novolog,

when last month it cost me $25.00.

Hi Lainie,

Have you looked into getting your meds from a mail order pharmacy?

I take care of getting my mom's medicines. In January, I decided to go with

a mail order pharmacy instead of one of the local chains. When the

pharmacist found out I was switching to a mail order pharmacy, he tried to

" rake me

over the coals " . He told me I was taking money from his pocket, that I would

not get the service that I had received. I asked him why didn't they offer

a 3 month supply of meds and his reply was, " we would lose money doing that " .

I listened to him for a few minutes. There were other customers in that

pharmacy listening to him. Then, in my gentle voice told him that I really

didn't feel bad about switching since one of my best friends who is a

pharmacist

for this particular chain had told me a few nights earlier that she ordered

her meds from Caremark. He did not know what to say then, guess he realized

that my friend was his boss. I have not told her yet, but I still plan to.

You can bet, I'll not go to that particular pharmacy again for meds or

anything else.

We had been getting one of 's meds from this particular pharmacy. We

were paying $9.99 a month for this med. When we switched to mail order

pharmacy, we pay $1.46 for a 90 day supply.

hugs

Eunice

[Guest guest]

I have been unemployed basically since Oct 2004. When I 1st lost my job I

compared prices between Walgreens and Costco. Costco was some $180 cheaper/month

for the 7 scripts I was on then. I haven't compared since my heart attack

and being placed on insulin but I don't think it necessary. I have to buy my

drugs month to month. Wish I had a way to get several months supply at a time

which I'm working on.

Bob

[Guest guest]

Has anyone used Walgreens or BioScript mail order phamracy's? When I started my

new job last year I just put all my prescriptions at the local pharmacy but am

int he process of doing mail order again...it's SO much cheaper!

~Marisa

Smile,Marisa

Liver tx. 5/88

www.marisasmiracle.com

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well

DANCE!!

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[Guest guest]

I have been using Walgreens for quite some time now and they are GREAT. My

prescriptions come fast and I have never had a problem. I would highly

recommend them. I pay for 2 months and get three months.

Re: meds - chain pharmacies vs mail order pharmacy

Has anyone used Walgreens or BioScript mail order phamracy's? When I

started my new job last year I just put all my prescriptions at the local

pharmacy but am int he process of doing mail order again...it's SO much

cheaper!

~Marisa

Smile,Marisa

Liver tx. 5/88

www.marisasmiracle.com

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as

well DANCE!!

---------------------------------

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starting at 1¢/min.

[Guest guest]

Is that through an insurance plan that you pay for 2 months and get 3 months?

onelvlady onelvlady@...> wrote:

I have been using Walgreens for quite some time now and they are GREAT. My

prescriptions come fast and I have never had a problem. I would highly

recommend them. I pay for 2 months and get three months.

,___

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[Guest guest]

You can always call the different pharmacy chains near your area and

they can give you the costs of specific medications over the phone.

I get sotalol for one of my boxers who has cardio myopathy and the

difference in price from one chain to the next amazed me.

I have been

using Walgreens for quite some time now and they are GREAT. My

> prescriptions come fast and I have never had a problem. I would

highly

> recommend them. I pay for 2 months and get three months.

> ,___

>

>

>

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> Yahoo! Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs.Try it free.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Eunice, I also use mail order pharmacy. I get this with my insurance through

my work. Medco is what I use for quite some years now. I have also used

Caremark and another one I forget its name. I get a 3 month supply of my

insulin, strips, zocor and diovan. Each 3 month supply item is $50. So If I

order all 4 at one time, that is $200. I know that looks alot but its for 3

months. I get 9 vials of insulin and 9 boxes of test strips(51 tests in each

box), of the accu check compac.

ERWachter@... wrote:

When the

pharmacist found out I was switching to a mail order pharmacy, he tried to " rake

me

over the coals " . He told me I was taking money from his pocket, that I would

not get the service that I had received. I asked him why didn't they offer

a 3 month supply of meds and his reply was, " we would lose money doing that " .

I

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[Guest guest]

Marie said: " You can always call the different pharmacy chains

near your area and they can give you the costs of specific

medications over the phone. "

Actually, this is not true in all cases. I tried asking my

insurance's pharmacy dept over the phone and they told me to

check with the chains as Marie mentioned, and I went to the

Wal-Green's closest to me to find out how much one of my meds

would be by just giving the name and strength. The pharmacist

told me that I had to bring the prescription in and they would

run it thru the system and then tell me a price. I could then

decide from there whether or not I wanted to fill it there.

Turned out that the price of a medicine I checked out was the

same as the price of the pharmacy I use which is even closer to

my home.

Also, Eunice mentioned CareMark, this mail order pharmacy is who

does the mail order for my Blue Cross plan and as I found out

from someone on a State Blue Cross plan, they use CareMark too.

Daughter of Type 2 Insulin Dependent,

Kristy

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[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/15/2006 1:07:25 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

misguided_mortal_1970@... writes:

I get a 3 month supply of my insulin, strips, zocor and diovan.

Hi ,

I keep hearing on the news that the patent has expired for Zocor and that it

will be less expensive. I'm paying $40 for a three-month supply. I will

get a new prescription next month and I'm hoping it will be less or that I can

get the generic. What I heard in one news report was that the pharmaceutical

company was going to reduce the cost of Zocor so that people would continue

using that instead of going with a generic.

In fact, one health reporter on our local news has been talking about

patents expiring on several of the more popular meds in the next few months.

I'm

hoping this is true and we will get a cost break.

hugs

Eunice

[Guest guest]

>

> The pharmacist

> told me that I had to bring the prescription in and they would

> run it thru the system and then tell me a price. I could then

> decide from there whether or not I wanted to fill it there.

Kristy,

This is because many insurance plans have contracted prices for most

medications. The 'cash' price may be considerably different than the

insurance price as contracted by your insurance company. This is why they

asked you to pring in your prescription to run it through the system before

they could tell you a price.

You will probably find, if you have insurance, that the price for a medicine

is the same at each pharmacy when the medication is covered by your

insurance. This is my case. All pharmacies that 'participate' with my

insurance have the same rates for drugs. If I do have something that isn't

covered by the insurance (like the diet pill I'm currently taking), I found

that the pharmacy at the local grocery store was about 50% cheaper than

Walgreens. When I asked about other medications, they said that if I ran

them through with the insurance the price would be the same as Walgreens.

Some policies allow for savings if you use a mail order pharmacy and

purchase 2-3 months worth of a medication at one time... of course this also

depends on the medication and if you can purchase that quantity and how long

you need to be on it (if your doctor puts you on a new medicine today DON'T

get 2-3 months of it until you have been on it for a month and had one

follow up visit with your doctor... you need to make sure you are not

allergic to the medicine and that it is working for you and your doctor

doesn't change the medicine, and you are then stuck with 2 months of a

medicine you aren't going to take). I've refilled prescriptions right

before a doctors appointment only to find out that he is changing me to a

different medicine... I've learned the hard way ;-)

Mike

[Guest guest]

Hi Eunice,

Do you by any chance recall what other meds might be going " generic. " I think

Zocor is for cholesterol? If so, maybe I can replace my Lipitor with that and

save some money. There are a few other things that I could use in generic form

(Advair, Singulair, Lotrel).

ERWachter@... wrote:

In fact, one health reporter on our local news has been talking about

patents expiring on several of the more popular meds in the next few months.

I'm

hoping this is true and we will get a cost break.,_._,___

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[Guest guest]

My BC ins. requires us to use Medco mail-order pharmacy. I got

a letter yesterday stating that my Pravachol (also for

cholesterol) now has a generic equivalent, & that my Rx will be

filled with that next time.

Barb, T2 in MI

Barbara Ward

Macomb County, Michigan

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