Going to the pharmacy generally is not a fun adventure for people. You have to deal with health insurance, prescription coverage, and health concerns are things that we never get excited to do. As someone who has on-going health concerns I know how frustrating going to the pharmacy can be. I also have learned some little tricks along the way to make the visit a bit more stress free.
Be Prepared.
When you go to the pharmacy be prepared. This means have all of your scripts with you and know what medications you are filling. You will also want to have your health insurance card(s) in hand so that you can show them to the pharmacist it needed. Finally, you want to always take the time to talk with the pharmacist if you believe there will be any complications when filling your prescriptions. This is also a great time to learn about your medication if you have never taken it before.
I personally always talk with my pharmacist because I like to remind them that I have two forms of health insurance. I make sure that they know to bill my Primary and then my secondary insurance so that I get the best converage for my medications. This is especially important because not all of my medications are covered by my Primary insurance and the secondary insurance will not pay for it if you don’t bill the primary insurance first. If you are someone who has two forms of insurance like I do then this is something you will want to remember so that you can avoid any headaches that might arise from the pharmacy telling you that a prescription isn’t covered by your insurance.
Look for Savings.
You may not realize it, but there are other ways that you can save money on your prescriptions other than just with your insurance provider. For instance there are things like the advair diskus discount card that you can find online for a variety of different medications.
On top of savings cards like I mentioned there are additional savings programs that some pharmacy’s have available to some customers. I have Medicare and because of that Walgreens offers a lot of prescriptions and low to no cost for Medicare Part D holders. This is a great way to know that some of your prescriptions will be covered at a higher value than it might be from another pharmacy.
Do Your Research.
If you have a new prescription that you were prescribed by your doctor do the necessary research before going to the pharmacy. This means you can contact your insurance ahead of time to see if the medication is covered by them. I keep the website for Medicare Part D coverage saved on my computer because I feel like I am always checking to see if a medication is covered by them before I look into my Medicaid coverage. Sometimes being able to check online without calling is helpful. For me it is because there is always a 30 minute plus wait when I call Medicare.