Seen on the street in Kyiv.

Words of Advice:

"If Something Seems To Be Too Good To Be True, It's Best To Shoot It, Just In Case." -- Fiona Glenanne

“The Mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” -- The TOFF *

"Foreign Relations Boil Down to Two Things: Talking With People or Killing Them." -- Unknown

“Speed is a poor substitute for accuracy.” -- Real, no-shit, fortune from a fortune cookie

"If you believe that you are talking to G-d, you can justify anything.” — my Dad

"Colt .45s; putting bad guys in the ground since 1873." -- Unknown

"Stay Strapped or Get Clapped." -- probably not Mr. Rogers

"The Dildo of Karma rarely comes lubed." -- Unknown

"Eck!" -- George the Cat

* "TOFF" = Treasonous Orange Fat Fuck, A/K/A Dolt-45,
A/K/A Commandante (or Cadet) Bone Spurs,
A/K/A El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago, A/K/A the Asset., A/K/A P01135809

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Tricare's Pharmacy Change

If you're in the military or a retiree, you know that Tricare has dropped CVS for Walgreens.

One change that a few friends have seen is that if a doctor writes a prescription for a specific drug without restricting it, CVS would fill it with the generic equivalent. That had the benefit of saving people from paying higher co-pays.

Walgreens isn't doing that.

If you have Tricare, you'll need to ask the pharmacist when you go to pick up the prescription (since most prescripts are submitted electronically) whether or not it could be filled with an equivalent that is in Tricare's formulary. If you don't, you're going to get stuck for a higher copay.

Walgreens: At the corner of happy stockholders and healthy profits.

8 comments:

CenterPuke88 said...

Plus, you can browse their selection of fine tobacco, while you wait...

The New York Crank said...

I'm not surprised at Walgreen's. They're just another venal business, and that's what venal businesses do.

The big question in my mind is, how did Walgreen's persuade the (VA? DOD?) to take the unnecessarily expensive option and to get rid of CVS?

Investigative journalism, anyone?

Yours crankily,
The New York Crank

Old NFO said...

Probably because CVS was notorious for being 'out' of drugs Vets needed, they were held for 'paying' customers. I saw that for myself in NOVA at the CVS in Ballston, when waiting for a script to be filled and was told none available, the man behind me with better insurance, got the SAME drug in five minutes. It was not unusual to have to wait 3-5 days for fills.

Anonymous said...

CVS sucks rocks. I get to go to a grocery store chain now and the service is like night and day.

Stewart Dean said...

And it's not just corporate fuckery:
http://theweek.com/articles/669573/republican-plot-devour-retirees-nest-eggs

Ed Baptist said...

When you look at local examples, Walgreens' customer service is much better than CVS.

CenterPuke88 said...

Ed, exactly the opposite here. And, as Comrade noted, even if the script was filled with generic sub approved, the Walgreens would fill brand name unless you specifically asked for the generic. The CVS fills generic whenever the script allows, automatically. Not saying Imlove them, but I moved from Walgreens to CVS with a plan that will fill at either.

D. said...

Yeah, we noticed, because my mother (widow) who has been getting her drugs through Tricare at CVS for years is now having to get her doctors (one this week alone) to call in scripts to a strange drugstore that we rarely patronized, where she will have to retrain the pharmacist, and which doesn't even have a nearby Chinese takeout joint. And who is liable to not understand the higher co-pay or why she has to go through all this in the first place (I have to take her for one of her medications tomorrow, with all the cards.)

Apparently all prescription drug plans underwent some weird arbitrary change at the beginning of December.

Tell me how this rigmarole is superior to Evil Socialized Medicine again.