Wal-Mart's $4 Prescription Program

It took an hour, but I finally got a short-gap prescription for the Verapamil pills I need to maintain my blood pressure. After a confusing dance this morning at the clinic, I got the right prescription, and, as she handed it to me, the nurse added: "Go to Wal-Mart or Target to have your prescription filled. They only charge $4."

I was in danger of having prescriptions overlap. My new mailorder pharmacy, Caremark, was about to fill a new prescription for Verapamil. (The 4 refills I had left did not transfer, which heightens my frustration level with this process.) So I didn’t dare fill a new prescription for the same drug, as the insurance company would surely cancel one or the other. So, when I went into Wal-Mart, I told them I had no insurance, fully expecting, like the nurse said, to have to pay $4.

Well, to my shock, the bill came to $41.73. Only drugs on their list qualify for the $4 prescription charge. Verapamil is not on that list.

It’s a good deal if you have no money and/or are underinsured. Always ask how much it cost. (I didn’t bother asking; I had to have the drug order filled regardless.)

There's a list online at Wal-Mart's website of the $4 drugs. They will also hand you a paper list at the pharmacy if you want one. It truly is a great deal if you have no insurance.

Spittin' Mad at Big Pharma

I don't usually get angry. Oh, yes, of course I have on occasion. I don't usually yell in those circumstances; I just walk away.

Well, you can't walk away from your mail-order pharmacy. Although, believe me, I've love to.

I've been with Express Scripts for the past 3 years, and watched them put me in a double-bind several times where I can't get the prescription I need. Usually what happens is I'll see the prescription I need right on the website, and the website tells me I have something like 2 or 4 refills left. I click on it.

Two weeks later, instead of getting the pills, much-needed at that point, I get a letter saying they can't fill the prescription because (1) it's for less than 30 days, and/or (2) it's too old. And there's no one to talk to.

So, on October 26th when I learned that my health insurance was kicking out Express Scripts and signing onto CVS' Caremark, I was thrilled. Well, thrilled until now, right now, today, when I feel like throwing a big truck at them. (What a futile daydream! God knows where these people are, supposing there are people rather than robots.)

I still don't have my I.D. card from them so I can't order anything. I called them up (twice) today, asking that my blood pressure medication be filled. They can't do that, they said: no refills left. I know I had 4 refills on the verapamil before the transfer started....and apparently those numbers are in a deep, dark hole somewhere.

So now I'm stuck. I have five of those beautiful blue pills left, enough for two-and-a-half days. I called the trauma nurse at my clinic today. She's going to get a doctor to sign a prescription for 30 days to get me through the emergency.

And I have to tell you: I don't have any faith that Caremark will come through on filling that one prescription at all.

As if you didn't know, maintaining your health is a part-time job, and sometimes even a full-time job.

Piecing Together the Little Blue Pills

A most important package arrived today. My prescription of Verapamil, for blood pressure.

Even though I get a 90-day supply of my prescriptions, I am constantly running out, mostly because my prescription mail-order program, ExpressScripts, is repeatedly telling me they won’t refill perfectly good refills.

“Thank you for your recent order. Your prescription order for (fill in the blank) cannot be filled for the following reason(s):

“The mail order minimum for this medication is 45 days, your physician wrote for less.”

My physician never writes for less. She always writes for the 90-day supply. But after filling it once, they refuse to honor the refills.

Whenever this happens, and it’s always about the verapamil, perhaps because I take it twice a day (along with two other blood pressure meds), I’m forced to figure out how I’m going to last until I can get the new prescription, physically mail it in, and then wait for it to be delivered.

Over the last few weeks, I have cut my prescription of the drug, only taking it once a day instead of twice. And over the last few days, I have been piecing together crumbs of the blue pill in order to get one dose out of it. Since the last refill contained several pills broken in two, I had something to work with. (Although the taste of the uncoated pill leaves a lot to be desired…) And, believe me, there have been some deleterious effects caused by cutting the dosage.

I’m obviously going to have to do something about this problem. It’s driving me crazy.