How a pharmacy worker saved us $204
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Tip it! 
Facebook it! | 04/26/11
I was going to send this out in my newsletter as a tip of the week, but thought better of it. It’s a legitimate tip, but most spam filters don’t look too kindly to e-mails with “pharmacy” and “drugs” in the content. 
My wife has been taking a particular prescription medication for years. She started out with the name-brand version of the drug, and subsequently moved to the generic version. Unless a doctor specifically prescribes the name-brand version of the medication to the exclusion of generic substitutes, most insurance companies will pay out for lower-cost generic substitutes.
I had thought that there was little difference between name-brand drugs and generic versions of the same drug, but there can be quite a big difference. The fillers can be different. Time-release membranes can be different to the point where the generic ones are ineffective.
My wife had been feeling out of sorts for a fair while, and ran across online evidence that suggested that switching back to the name-brand version of the drug might make her feel better. She went back to her doctor, and her doctor prescribed the name-brand version of her medication.
CVS employee to the rescue
When she went to have that prescription filled, though, the pharmacy employee said that, because she already had a generic version of the prescription being filled, that our insurance company wasn’t going to pay for the name-brand one until the other one ran out. My wife then asked how much it would be completely out-of-pocket. $254!
The employee then said, “Let me see if I can get an exception from the insurance company.” She didn’t ask him to do this. He volunteered.
The insurance company granted the exception, and the cost of the name-brand dropped to fifty bucks.
It almost never hurts to ask, and this CVS employee saved us $204 by asking.
One Response to “How a pharmacy worker saved us $204”
By Frugally Savvy on Apr 27, 2011 | Reply
I am glad to see that workers actually care about their customers still