Mail Order Prescriptions: Cost Saver or Health Menace?

For many seniors on a Medicare Prescription plan and often for those with corporate health insurance, several insurance companies are demanding that a mail order prescription company is used instead of a local pharmacy. Gone are the days where you could pop down to your local pharmacy and get a prescription from a pharmacist you know and trust. At least, that is the scenario I'm currently in.

This request is usually for what they call "maintenance" medications: meds for heart problems, diabetes, thyroid, MS or other diseases which require constant and consistent medications. If you are in one of these plans, you have no choice with most of these. Either you get it filled via the mail order pharmacy or it all comes out of your pocket. Considering one of the medications for my Multiple Sclerosis now comes in at over $2000 a month, it would be completely impossible for us to manage. Many insurance companies also require the generic version of the drug to be prescribed even if the doctor does not want the patient using the generic. Again, if you buck the system, it comes out of your pocket.

With the mail order company, I never get to talk to a real live person. The only option I have is call the number on the prescription bottle and get an automated ordering system or go online and check the reorder box for the medication. I find this procedure to be very unacceptable.

Just because you're on maintenance medication does not mean you're not also being treated for other health issues. If it's not one of my maintenance medications, I can go down to my local pharmacy and get a prescription filled. Then we also have over the counter medications, for colds, coughs and your basic vitamins. The problem with this scenario? Some medications do not work well if taken with other things, even the over the counter medications.

One of the biggest assets of dealing with a live pharmacist is they begin to know you and your medical record. Because they are living, breathing and thinking individuals, looking at your records as they are filling your prescriptions, they catch things that don't work well together or ones requiring caution while taking. There have been numerous times when my pharmacist has stopped me, mentioned another medicine I'm on and told me that the combination causes drowsiness, that exposure to the sun is an issue, or that I might become sick to my stomach while taking the combination. I've even seen him call my doctor to talk with him about it. The mail order pharmacy never gives me that attention.

Yes, informational flyers are included with our medications, but they do not often explain or clarify things the way a person can. There is not the personal interaction when you have a question. And some individuals, particularly seniors, may have difficulty reading the fine print on the information flyer.

Some mail order pharmacies do have a number where you can call and talk to someone. Mine does not. But even with that, it is assumed the patient knows what to ask. That is not always the case. And with all the options online, many individuals are not savvy enough with a computer to understand that online ordering system. Pre-emptive assistance is always going to be better than asking questions after the problem has occurred.

My fear is that we seem to be moving very far away from personal attention in the medical field. Computers will always do exactly what we tell them to do, but for now, they cannot imagine what we might do and that is where a living, breathing pharmacist has an advantage.