Nancy
Well-known member
Ach! I can't tell you how frustrated I am, Joe also.
We have Medco Health for our long term prescriptions. In the past several months, the service has become so absolutely terrible that it's hard to imagine how it could get any worse.
A couple of months ago, they lost my husband's prescription for K-Dur. We mail them in and the turn around time for mail-ins is something like 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, I called to find out that they had no record of the prescription??? So Joe had to call the doctor and get another prescription which we sent in. After a few days he called to try to find out when it was going to ship. Medco changed it to a generic Potassium Chloride. So because it was now under the generic name, they couldn't find the prescription, and had no shipping information. The next day Joe called again, and they found the prescription, but it was now "new" and would take the usual 2 weeks. He had to get another prescription to tide him over.
This past two week's fiasco involves Coumadin. Joe got a new prescription from his doctor and sent it in to be filled and mailed in an expedited way, paying extra for shipment. A week later, it was "kicked" back for some minor wording error. So Joe called and got another prescription written according to the way the Medco pharmacist directed, which was essentially what was said in the original prescription, mailed that in. He called on Monday to check on the shipment, and a real dolt answered and said she couldn't find the prescription. Later in the day, he called again, hoping to find someone who knew something, and got a fellow who said that he found the prescription and that it was shipping out that day and would arrive yesterday or today. Today's mail came and went. No prescription.
Now Joe is starting to run out of Coumadin. So we called and got another person who told us that they saw the prescription, but that it hadn't shipped yet and wouldn't until possibly Friday.
So we called the liaison representative from the company who supplies this benefit. She was wonderful and set up a three-way conversation. Even with her services, it took 45 minutes of negotiations to finally get Medco to agree to cover a 7 day's supply of Coumadin (at their expense) for Joe so he wouldn't run out.
Now we have to call the doctor to write yet another prescription so the local pharmacist can fill the 7 day supply.
The frustration that develops with something like this is very difficult to handle.
I will be writing a complaint letter to the large corporation who provides this benefit. They do not take kindly to their resources providing shoddy services. Plus the company representative stayed on the phone throughout this very long winded and obtuse conversation with the Medco representative.
In the back of my mind, why do I have the nagging feeling that this is all deliberate in an effort to force most people to give up and get a prescription filled at the local pharmacy, thereby saving Medco the cost of one month's worth of a prescription?
All told, this last fiasco has taken about 6 hours of time to try to resolve.
We have Medco Health for our long term prescriptions. In the past several months, the service has become so absolutely terrible that it's hard to imagine how it could get any worse.
A couple of months ago, they lost my husband's prescription for K-Dur. We mail them in and the turn around time for mail-ins is something like 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, I called to find out that they had no record of the prescription??? So Joe had to call the doctor and get another prescription which we sent in. After a few days he called to try to find out when it was going to ship. Medco changed it to a generic Potassium Chloride. So because it was now under the generic name, they couldn't find the prescription, and had no shipping information. The next day Joe called again, and they found the prescription, but it was now "new" and would take the usual 2 weeks. He had to get another prescription to tide him over.
This past two week's fiasco involves Coumadin. Joe got a new prescription from his doctor and sent it in to be filled and mailed in an expedited way, paying extra for shipment. A week later, it was "kicked" back for some minor wording error. So Joe called and got another prescription written according to the way the Medco pharmacist directed, which was essentially what was said in the original prescription, mailed that in. He called on Monday to check on the shipment, and a real dolt answered and said she couldn't find the prescription. Later in the day, he called again, hoping to find someone who knew something, and got a fellow who said that he found the prescription and that it was shipping out that day and would arrive yesterday or today. Today's mail came and went. No prescription.
Now Joe is starting to run out of Coumadin. So we called and got another person who told us that they saw the prescription, but that it hadn't shipped yet and wouldn't until possibly Friday.
So we called the liaison representative from the company who supplies this benefit. She was wonderful and set up a three-way conversation. Even with her services, it took 45 minutes of negotiations to finally get Medco to agree to cover a 7 day's supply of Coumadin (at their expense) for Joe so he wouldn't run out.
Now we have to call the doctor to write yet another prescription so the local pharmacist can fill the 7 day supply.
The frustration that develops with something like this is very difficult to handle.
I will be writing a complaint letter to the large corporation who provides this benefit. They do not take kindly to their resources providing shoddy services. Plus the company representative stayed on the phone throughout this very long winded and obtuse conversation with the Medco representative.
In the back of my mind, why do I have the nagging feeling that this is all deliberate in an effort to force most people to give up and get a prescription filled at the local pharmacy, thereby saving Medco the cost of one month's worth of a prescription?
All told, this last fiasco has taken about 6 hours of time to try to resolve.
