This kind of thing would have seriously annoyed me had it happened to me. Two weeks ago I realized that I wanted a BCP prescription so I could skip my period when I'm in Japan this month. My PCP gave me a prescription, and I went to the pharmacy to get it filled. Had they made it difficult for me to obtain or required me to wait past its effectiveness for this month, it would have made me quite angry.
I was actually already angry because my insurance company has the most ridiculous policy for BCP. They only give you one pack at a time, a month apart. You have to go in after 28 days of receiving your first pack to get your second. Not a day earlier. When you're taking medication that has to be taken at the same time every day with no interruptions, you find this to be an absurd policy. In addition, many women choose to skip the placebo week to skip their periods. This means they need the second pack after three weeks, not four.
I had to ask for special vacation status from the insurance company to get the second pack early. I don't even know if it will be difficult to get the third pack when the second runs out. They might be ridiculous enough to require 56 days after the first one. Grrr.
Posts: 1892 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I wonder if pharmacies will be allowed to simply not stock BCPs and make sure they can refer patients to other places.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Suneun, does your insurance company have a mail order option? My insurance contracts with Medco Health, and I can get 3 months worth of any maintenance medication (BC, Missy's ADD meds, etc.) in a single shipment and for a single copay. I don't have to pay the deductible that I would have through a retail pharmacy, and BC (which is not covered at all through retail) is covered 100% with only the copay. I coulnd't even begin to guess how much money I save this way.
Obviously this wouldn't help for the first month of a medication, especially BC, but if you have hte ability to fill future scrips through mail-rder, you could ask your doctor to write one scrip for the first month at retail and then a second scrip for the rest of the year's supply, and then ship that second scrip off to the mail order pharmacy ASAP to be filled.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Suneun, I was going to ask about that too, because a lot of companies allow 3 month mail-order options as well. It allows them to save money, and allows for more freedom of choice for the patient..a true win-win.
I would check into it, but more and more of them are going to something like this for what is called "recurring medications".
You can usually refill a medication after 80-85% of your month supply is exhausted, and this time frame varies from insurance company to insurance company. Basically, you can refill it anywhere from 5-7 days before you run out, if this helps.
In your good sense, you were able to get the insurance to grant a vacation override supply. Good job!
As to the 150-day law passed in Illinois, I am actually relieved. Pharmacists have been in a sort of limbo as to how to approach ethics and dispensing of emergency contraceptives.
Even the law does not apply to me (each state has its own laws), it is again, a relief, to finally see a state make a stand.
As to whether I agree with the decision, well, that is another story!
Posts: 1870 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Hatrack time is much faster than real world time. If a person has been here for two years, they're an old timer. I started my job 2.5 years ago, and I'm still definitely "newish". If a person has been at hatrack for 5 years, they've been here since time began. In the real world, someone who has been around for five years is a kindergartner.
It's kind of like dog years.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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