Medicine while traveling.

[Buster52]

Hi All, I have been wondering how I will get my medicine while traveling. I can only get one month at a time and I am planning a trip that will be two or more months long. Any ideas? I have no family of friends along the way.

Thanks

Buster

[Sully2]

pjzocc wrote:

Golden_HVAC wrote:
Wal Mart is located coast to coast.

One friendly doctor prescribed heart medication for my buddy 10 mg 3X a day, and told him to only take one a day. So he got a 90 day supply for only 1 fill fee. ..

Walgreens is also coast to coast, I think. At least most of the states that I have been to.

Fred.

That's insurance fraud, FYI. I don't recommend this tactic, as there can be stiff penalties levied on the prescriber, pharmacy, and patient could have his insurance cancelled.

You got that right!!

[rk911]

Buster52 wrote:
Hi All, I have been wondering how I will get my medicine while traveling. I can only get one month at a time and I am planning a trip that will be two or more months long. Any ideas? I have no family of friends along the way.

Thanks

Buster

we travel for 3-mos at a time and get our refills at walgreen's. they are all over the country. you can refill by calling or since you're already on-line you can establish an on-line account and re-fill from there. either way just select the closest walgreen's. you can do the same with CVS or WalMart.

[bob_nestor]

Your local pharmacist can call for a vacation override and fill the prescription for the time you plan on being away. As others have said, using a nationwide pharmacy like Walmart, CVS or Walgreen can make it pretty easy to get a refill, but there are some hitches with this approach. Technically your prescription is transferred from one store to another and that usually requires the pharmacist at the sending store to be available and handle the transfer. If that person is out for a day or two that can delay the transfer. I ran into this transferring a script between two CVS pharmacies that were less than 10 miles apart from each other. Don't know if it was a legal issue with the State, a CVS policy or just the way things are though.

If it were me (and what I do) is to either work with my pharmacist and get a vacation override or talk to my Doc and get a script for a larger amount covering a longer time period. Sometimes my Doc will give me a script that I can take with me and get filled at a later date when I'm on the road.

And one other thing - don't assume that you can get refills in Canada just because you're using Walmart, CVS, etc. Yeah the stores are there, but Canadian law prevents them from filling prescriptions not issued by a Canadian Doc.

[pjzocc]

Vet Man - insurance companies do audits frequently. If its a medication that it's known dosage is once a day (a 24 hour extended release tablet for example) and the doc writes it for 3/day, it creates a flag at the insurance company. The insurance company calls the pharmacy and requests a copy of the rx and documentation from the pharmacy for the excessive dose. If none is had, call the doc. Doc then has to provide documentation that the dose is necessary. If he is unable to do so, the pharmacy gets reverse billed for the med, plus a fine or fee. The md can be fined and the patient risks losing his coverage.

And if it's a Medicare drug plan, the pharmacist will be paying the fine out of his pocket, which could be up to $10,000 PER INCIDENT. So if he refilled the rx 5 times, it's a $50k fine. The doc also risks losing his ability to bill for Medicare services.

Does it happen often? No. But audits like those (especially Medicare) are not fun. And it doesn't have to be an overtly egregious abuse to flag an audit.

[RoyB]

we use WALMART mostly and all of our drug prescriptions go there. If we need refills and out of town WALMART just checks with our local store and fills our order. We also use CVS as well...

Never have had a problem so far...

Roy Ken

[Vet_Man]

pjzocc. how could it be proven. The bottle says take 3 times a day. I am not saying its right but I have never here of anyone being charged or losing there insurance for this reason. With the cost of meds, people do this to afford it. They also get a double dose pill which there is very little difference in price, and cut it in half.

[wildtoad]

Are you taking name brand drugs? I've converted most of mine to generics that are on walmarts $4/$10 list. Insurance doesn't pay for them and I get 90 days.

[pjzocc]

Golden_HVAC wrote:
Wal Mart is located coast to coast.

One friendly doctor prescribed heart medication for my buddy 10 mg 3X a day, and told him to only take one a day. So he got a 90 day supply for only 1 fill fee. ..

Walgreens is also coast to coast, I think. At least most of the states that I have been to.

Fred.

That's insurance fraud, FYI. I don't recommend this tactic, as there can be stiff penalties levied on the prescriber, pharmacy, and patient could have his insurance cancelled.

[pjzocc]

You can check with your insurance company about a "vacation override" for travel. If your refills aren't due before you leave, your plan may allow for an early fill, but call them first for the details/restrictions.

Most (if not all) states do allow refill transfers from pharmacy to pharmacy. It does not have to be within the same chain, but if you use Walgreens/CVS/whoever, it is much easier. Some states do have restrictions (eg. NY only allows the transfer of 1 of the refills on a script at a time, and does not allow transfer of controlled substances). If its a new rx, you should be able to fill it at any state, though (again) controlled substances are regulated differently from state to state. Talk with your local pharmacist, let him know when you're leaving, where you're going, etc., and he should be able to assist you.

(Yes I am a pharmacist)

[s_N_s]

Walmart, Walgreens, CVS etc. all have there computers linked to fill your script wherever you may be. There shouldn't be any problem for you if you use one of the National chains. Good Luck and hope you have a great trip. Be Safe!

[Golden_HVAC]

Wal Mart is located coast to coast.

One friendly doctor prescribed heart medication for my buddy 10 mg 3X a day, and told him to only take one a day. So he got a 90 day supply for only 1 fill fee. ..

Walgreens is also coast to coast, I think. At least most of the states that I have been to.

Fred.

[obgraham]

We're all in that same boat, Buster54. WalMart and Walgreens have worked fine for us. Sometimes its the insurance that's the problem -- pick a plan that works nationwide.

[Old-Biscuit]

Does your Doctor give 'X' amount of refills?
OR do you have to get a new RX from DOC every 30 days.

Refills......get Rx filled every 3 weeks at any Walmart, Walgreens, CVS etc.

Might have to have DOC fax a Rx if certain types of drug(s)

Have you discussed this with your DOC?

[Matt_Colie]

If you have the script out to one of the big chains, most have a nation-wide computer system. Just check that yours does have branches where you expect to be going.

Matt