[Sidney Lanier]

Originally Posted by efrahin

Sidney: I am glad not to be alone, I did not understood anything about all this nonsense. When I went to the Social Security in my town and ask for help they told me: "We dont understand it either" then I asked my doctor, whose wife is the office person and she suggested AARP-United Healthcare. Everything in the plan works all right except the plan D. What they are doing with the old people (euphemism for senior citizens) is criminal.

efrahin: Rest assured you are not alone! This boondoggle called 'Plan D' was created by a congressional majority and a president four or five years ago to take into account their support by the pharmaceutical and insurance industries, with the old people be d***ed. As a volunteer with Hospice and in my own life and that of my wife, I've had a lot of experience dealing with health insurance companies, and this is the absolute worst. That is why I was opposed to it from the time it was being structured; I could see where it was going. We can only hope that there will be a change in Washington after the November election with enough seats in Congress changing hands that this nightmare will be able to be changed; as of the last election a year and a half ago the Congress did change in leadership, but unfortunately not enough to be veto-proof. Meantime, all we can do is struggle through it until it can be changed. We had such an excellent private pharmaceutical plan, but when Plan D was executed, it gave the insurance companies the freedom to opt-out by requiring those over age 65, that is, Medicare eligible, to select a Plan D. If I can help in any way, feel free to let me know.

[Sidney Lanier]

Originally Posted by chacam

Recommended to me was Health Net Orange. Monthly premiun of $12.10. For all non name (generic) drugs there is a co-pay of $1.00. For name brands, there is an annual deductable,less than $300. Still a lot to learn before I make a final decision.

That sounds like a decent plan with an exceptionally reasonable monthly premium and an annual deductible that is fair. My suggestion, however, is to be sure to check the prices of the name brand drugs that you use, just to be on the safe side, before you commit yourself. I would certainly be curious to find out for myself if the generic prescription for which Wal-Mart Pharmacy had the audacity to charge me $141+ would be $1 on Health Net Orange. Remember, once you make a choice of a plan, you are 'stuck' for the entire year, even though the insurance companies have been given the freedom to make any changes they want during the year other than the amount of the premium. If I can help in any way, please let me know.

[chacam]

I'm not on any meds yet so that is the cheapest option for me. But, it was explained that any generic was only a $1 co-pay.

There must be others out there who use this company and maybe can offer their experiences.

We are looking at United Health Care (AARP) for our suppliment.

[gego3650]

Go on the web and print the list of drugs at $ 10 for 90 days. Other than that I go to Canadan on line.

[BarryRX]

I am going to defend Wal-Mart. First let me say that I am a recently retired pharmacist that spent the last 6 years working for Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart was the first pharmacy chain to come out with $4 generics. The very large list of generics that they sell for $4 represents many of the most common generic drugs that are sold today. If, however, you are prescribed a generic drug that is not on their $4 list, I would strongly suggest that you ask how much it will cost and if you think the price is too high, then shop around. Wal-Marts pricing forced many other chains to follow suit and to substantially lower their generic pricing. As a Wal-Mart pharmacist I felt proud that they were the leaders in low priced generics that enabled people who once could not afford their meds every month to now be able to get them. I was also proud that the low prices helped people avoid the "doughnut hole." The manager of your Wal-Mart was probably telling you the truth when he said the other pharmacy had a special contract with your health plan. If you purchased the prescription on your health plan, I would recommend calling your health plan to find out why for the same drug you had different co-pays in different stores. The stores do not set the copay, the health plan does.
After I finished posting this, I came across another thread posted today under the heading "pharmacy ripoff". Here it is:

I was in a hurry and droped of 3 scripts at Walgreens for a cost just under $ 100. All of these have been transfered to Walmart for a cost of $ 10.00 each for 90 days. Walgreens also charged me $ 286.16 For 60 Celebrex. I just ordered 100 in Canada online for $56 ( generic) to try. US script would be $ 109 for 100 but I thought I would try the generic first. My brother filled a script at CVS 30 days for $ 32. Next he went to Walmart and got the refill for $4. Shoping at the corner drug stores is not a good choice.

[rubicon]

Originally Posted by BarryRX

I am going to defend Wal-Mart. First let me say that I am a recently retired pharmacist that spent the last 6 years working for Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart was the first pharmacy chain to come out with $4 generics. The very large list of generics that they sell for $4 represents many of the most common generic drugs that are sold today. If, however, you are prescribed a generic drug that is not on their $4 list, I would strongly suggest that you ask how much it will cost and if you think the price is too high, then shop around. Wal-Marts pricing forced many other chains to follow suit and to substantially lower their generic pricing. As a Wal-Mart pharmacist I felt proud that they were the leaders in low priced generics that enabled people who once could not afford their meds every month to now be able to get them. I was also proud that the low prices helped people avoid the "doughnut hole." The manager of your Wal-Mart was probably telling you the truth when he said the other pharmacy had a special contract with your health plan. If you purchased the prescription on your health plan, I would recommend calling your health plan to find out why for the same drug you had different co-pays in different stores. The stores do not set the copay, the health plan does.
After I finished posting this, I came across another thread posted today under the heading "pharmacy ripoff". Here it is:

I was in a hurry and droped of 3 scripts at Walgreens for a cost just under $ 100. All of these have been transfered to Walmart for a cost of $ 10.00 each for 90 days. Walgreens also charged me $ 286.16 For 60 Celebrex. I just ordered 100 in Canada online for $56 ( generic) to try. US script would be $ 109 for 100 but I thought I would try the generic first. My brother filled a script at CVS 30 days for $ 32. Next he went to Walmart and got the refill for $4. Shoping at the corner drug stores is not a good choice.

BarryRX: Before retiring I was on the insurance side of the issue you address above. And I am posting to vouch for what you have said. You may also have said that the RX contracts are continually changing and hence change the dynamics. What we can't know but speculate about is how ObamaCare whether repealed or not is going to change health care/Pharma business, etc in the future.

[diskman]

Originally Posted by Sidney Lanier

Constantly hearing all the hype about Wal-Mart Pharmacy having the lowest prices on generic drugs, I went out of my way to get a generic prescription filled at a local Wal-Mart Pharmacy in NY (my first prescription in 2008, filled in June). When I picked up the prescription, I was a little stunned to be charged more than $141! I knew I had not yet met my deductible on my (nightmare of a) Part D Prescription Drug Plan, but somehow I did not expect a generic to cost this much.

Barely a week later we were traveling in Arizona and we stopped in at a Fry's Supermarket (a grocery chain owned by Kroger's, a large company but tiny in contrast to Wal-Mart). While my wife shopped for a few items, I chatted with the pharmacy assistant at the in-store pharmacy, and out of curiosity I asked how much this prescription would cost there. Ready for this? $64.49! Less than half the price I had paid at Wal-Mart Pharmacy! I asked for an 'official' printout of this information on a pharmacy form, which they happily gave me. A friend we were traveling with advised me to call the pharmacy manager at the actual store where I had purchased the prescription.

As soon as we returned to NY I did so. I spoke with a very pleasant man--the pharmacy manager--who listened thoughtfully and asked me to fax the printout from Fry's, which I did. He later called me back and told me that he had phoned Fry's and was told that I was covered under some kind of Fry's plan. I told him this could not possibly have been the case, that I was a tourist in Phoenix, that we were merely in the store to shop for a few items, and that we had never been in a Fry's store before. At that point he suggested that I speak with the pharmacy district manager, that he would refer the matter to him, and that I should expect to receive a phone call from him, which came within a day or two.

The district manager, equally pleasant, told me that Fry's Pharmacy has a heavily discounted price for this one medication and not for any other! I don't believe that he called Fry's to come up with this strange suggestion, but I could be wrong. I told him that I could not dispute this, as this was the only generic whose price I had checked on, but it seemed so unlikely that they sell hundreds (thousands?) of different generic prescription meds and I just happened to inquire about the one with the special price? I told him that I believed that Wal-Mart Pharmacy should price-match the Fry's price since it was the lowest I found. After checking with his regional manager, he told me that they would not honor this request, since I did not find the lower price at a pharmacy within the region, even though he assured me that the price I had paid at Wal-Mart Pharmacy would be exactly the same at every single Wal-Mart Pharmacy in the country.

I explained to him about TOTV and how it worked and that I intended to share this experience with my fellow TV residents. I am troubled by this from the point of view that Wal-Mart Pharmacy has generated a picture of itself as selling generic drugs at the absolute lowest prices. This has been proven not to be so, and if this is true for this one, it could be true for countless others. The bottom line, IMHO, as suggested to me by the pharmacy manager and my Part D plan clerk, is to be a proactive consumer and find out exactly how much a prescription is going to cost before buying it. I might add, BTW, that though this makes sense, this is not easy to do, as when I sought out the price of this med at other pharmacies, they told me that they cannot tell me a price (other than a cash price as if I walked in the door without any coverage) without actually filling the prescription and filing it online with my insurance company to know how much to charge me.

I know for sure that I will not return to Wal-Mart Pharmacy based on this experience....

I have AARP medicare advantage plan and I can call the associated mail order pharmacy Prescription solutions and they give me the plan price and the copay info easily. I also ck with CVS for their price and copay

[janmcn]

I can't understand why there are not more medicare advantage plans available in The Villages. There are hundreds of them in other parts of Florida that offer free prescriptions, no co-pay, free dental, free eye glasses, free health clubs. There are some that even offer free transportation to doctor's visits. I'm talking about companies like Humana, Optimum, Freedom, WellCare, etc. A lot if them also pay the Part B premium of $99.40 a month.

[jebartle]

very surprised to find that they fill their own prescriptions at their office in the Villages and match all prices including Walmart (3 month supply for $10)

[Villages PL]

From my experience, most (not all) of the drug taking is due to people living unhealthy lifestyles, namely, poor diet and lack of exercise. So, if you want to get even with the drug companies or pharmacies, try eating more fresh fruit, non-starchy vegetables, whole (intact) grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, etc.. (All the healthy stuff that people like to joke about as being "birds nest" and "tofu".)

I'm drug free at age 71 and you can be too! Granted not everyone can do this but I believe drug-taking could at least be cut in half.