dllfo
Sacramento, CA
Senior Member
Joined: 02/12/2005
View Profile
 Offline
|
I know we have talked about this before, but my searches did not find any info.
My wife uses Synthroid for her "nuked thyroid" and Tricare won't pay for it unless she tries all the other meds first. I can't say how I feel about that in a public forum. When she tried the other meds in the 90s her mood swings were difficult for her. She is a great wife and tried hard not to let her mood swings effect me, but I told her then we would pay for it out of our pockets before she went off Synthroid again.
Now we have three prescriptions that Tricare (Express Scripts) wants us to use all the generics first. I have zero patience with express scripts anymore. I did score one victory when Senator Boxer's office told them to straighten my meds out. After that I got the Nexium I needed and a couple of others, but we are banging heads again.
THAT is the background. I know I can try all the generics, but RLS is not something I want to mess with. ReQuip worked, Ropinole did not.
You get the idea I hope.
First: Can we legally fax or email our prescriptions to Canada?
Second: Can anyone recommend an HONEST pharmacy? One you have used
for some time and you feel sure you are getting the right medication??
Third: How did you pay for it? VISA? Money Orders?
Fourth: How long did it take for them to fill your prescription? That is, how long until you had it in your hands?
Fifth: Thank You Lord that I am off opiates. No more tap dancing with my pain med doctor.
If you are uncomfortable giving info out here, please PM me. Thank you.
2002 Monaco Diplomat 38PST
|
Beverley&Ken
Tottenham,Ontario
Full Member
Joined: 08/22/2006
View Profile
Offline
|
Prescriptions filled by a Canadian Drug Store (Pharmacy) must be written by a recognized Canadian Medical Doctor.
Ours are paid for by our medical/drug plan and we pay nothing when we pick them up. Other plans my require that you paid the pharmacy and then submit for payment. As for time, anywhere from 2 minutes to 30 minutes depending on how busy they are.
Ken
|
stanbnv
Goldendale WA, La Peñita de Jaltemba, Nay.
Senior Member
Joined: 02/03/2006
View Profile
Offline
|
We have Tricare and for an appeal you'll need a letter of necessity from your spouse's physician explaining why a brand name and not generic should be used, you or your spouse also need to fill out the Tricare paperwork for an appeal. If you've done all that and still been denied a brand name then you can have it filled at a pharmacy and you'll have to pay the difference between a generic and brand name. I don't know if that's an option for you. What you can do is have her physician write a prescription for the generic, take it for a month, and then have the doctor write a letter and request Tricare to authorize the brand name because the generic didn't work.
I use Synthroid and it's inexpensive. You might want to consider paying out of pocket for it. Check with Walmart or one of the other pharmacies that have the $4.00 prescription program. Lindy
Stan & Linda
Loki & Hobo
06 Dodge 3500 CTD 6 sp Quad Cab Bighorn
04 Laredo 29GS
"The Chief Warrent Officer was unimpressed by everything and seldom spoke except to express irritation."Joseph Heller,Catch 22
|
dllfo
Sacramento, CA
Senior Member
Joined: 02/12/2005
View Profile
Offline
|
Thank you for the info. Synthroid is one of the drugs. We have four.
Prevacid was cheap when I was on it. Nexium was not originally covered. I fought it with a letter from one of the foremost Pulmonologists in the United States, my Gastrointestinologist, my PCP, and my Cardiologist. The jerks at Express Scripts got their letters, then they said they needed THEIR form filled. My busy doctors did that. Then the AH at Express Scripts demanded to see the dates we had used all the other meds. For me, Aciphex was around 1995 to 2000, but who could remember. I had 2 different PCP during that time, one doctor was raped and left town. No one knew where she went. Express Scripts did not care.
I have the direct line for a man who can get a lot done, but I would still have to fill out all the forms, submit it, etc. As even he has to follow Congressional mandates.
IF I can buy these drugs from Canada, with U.S. Doctor's prescription, which I have, then I will pay for it. BTW, Costco charges a little over $50 for a 90 day supply of Synthroid, and yes, we have bought it there for years. Express Scripts says Synthroid is too expensive. they are liars and or fools. I am neither. In a 3 month prescription, if I paid a $9 copay each month, her Synthroid would set the government back about $8 a month.
The stress is very hard on all of us. As I told Express Scripts ... "Are you here to relieve my stress or create it?" I don't want to break the law, but it would appear Congress has been bought off by the
AMA and drug companies. Why else would they care if we bought our drugs from Canada? From REAL pharmacies, not just web sites. This is why I asked some of you IF you had bought from Canada and IF you had
received good meds. I am getting some good answers, thank you so much.
|
MobileMedic
Grande Prairie, Alberta
New Member
Joined: 05/30/2006
View Profile
Offline
|
Well I cannot comment on practices in the United States but I currently use the pharmacy in the local Walmart, and when needed they will transfer my prescription to another Walmart if required.
So they may do it cross border as well... Just a thought.
|
|
|
Bumpyroad
Virginia
Senior Member
Joined: 12/01/2005
View Profile
Offline
|
OK, you confused me. Are you talking about the insurance company wanting a generic in lieu of brand name for exactly the same chemical entity, or they want you to try alternate therapies in their formulary before they will pay for the brand name? they did the same thing to me on an antihistamine.
and if there is generic synthroid, as stated wal-mart has lots of generics for that $4.00 a month fee.
bumpy
|
dllfo
Sacramento, CA
Senior Member
Joined: 02/12/2005
View Profile
Offline
|
Express Scripts (ES) wanted, as an example for my Nexium... they had some generics - aciphex, prevacid and maybe another. I took Aciphex for several years, Prevacid for a few years and then these doctors diagnosed me with severe GERD, requiring Nexium.
ES said no to the Nexium, so I had some severe GERD ... which caused my Vocal Cord Dysfunction to fire off. I passed out and was taken to the ER in an Ambulance because I could not breathe. I spent the whole day in the Critical Care Unit because they did not know what was wrong with me. Tests, more tests .... $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ because the dim witted clowns at ES wanted more paperwork. Next I was put on Heliox -
SO EXPENSIVE no hospital in Saramento keeps it. I had an H bottle and about a half dozen E bottles. Plus oxygen. $$$$$$$$$ ES did not care
what they had cost Tricare because it is a different budget. I eventually was gone almost 6 weeks to the National Jewish Hospital in Denver, CO. The number one Respiratory Hospital in the USA for 11 straight years. $$$$$$$$$ They ran multiple tests on me nearly every weekday. $$$$$$$$ all because we could not justify it. I filed a complaint with Feinstein and Boxer for the waste, as well as my pain and suffering. I got some action then.
Are you taxpayers sitting down? Nexium is now on the formulary, but when they told my wife she had silent GERD, they prescribed Nexium. My wife could not keep Nexium down, so they put her on Prevacid, like I had been. BUT ES no longer pays for Prevacid. It and Nexium have changed places. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. So now we have to fight the other direction.
My wife took the other drugs ... generics for Synthroid and it messed up her emotions. And it takes more than one month for the meds to ...
I am not sure what the words are, it just messes up her emotions.
There is a lot more to this, she had a severe case of Graves Disease with every side effect you can imagine. Three eye surgeries because the liquid behind her eyes was pushing her eyes out of her head. She needed special glasses with prisms so she could teach and drive. She gained about 50 pounds in a short period of time. If any of you are in the medical field, you know what could cause this in a 38 year old woman. Only our faith in God got us through all of it.
|
|
