We have Optum Rx through our insurance and they have been wonderful.
Sorry you are having a difficult time.
I hope your DH gets his meds in a timely manner.

That's encouraging, Carol. The people I've spoken with have been 'very sorry', but sorry doesn't get DH his meds. Maybe they are growing too big, too fast. I don't like that there is no combined oversight for these two departments of one company.

Oh dear, what a mess! I hope your DH will have his meds in time. I also have had wonderful success with OptumRx through AARP UnitedHealthcare.

I wish we'd left our Part D with UnitedHealthCare. DH had never ordered his meds by mail, but I got my Advair just fine from OptumRx. (He had a ridiculous start as a new member with SilverScript (CVS) coverage in January of 2013.)

Our 'savings' with this WellCare coverage is NOT WORTH this hassle!

Our mail-in prescription coverage through our Aetna/Medicare insurance is Express Scripts, which I refuse to use to get meds by mail. Luckily we can fill our prescriptions as needed at our Kroger Pharmacy, and Express Scripts will pay their part.

I sure hope your hubby gets his meds. I'm sorry for the hassle you are having.

I use mail order because I get a 90 day supply for the same price as a 30 day supply locally. CVS Caremark is my rx insurance. If there was a local CVS it would be simplier. I have on occasion forgotten to renew my rx in time to receive it by mail. I call my doctor and they call in a one month supply to tide me over while I am waiting for the mail order. There is never any problem with CVS paying for the one month supply and the 90 day at the same time. My insurance is paid by CalPers and I don't have a choice for my rx insurance but it seems to go smoothly.

That's a sad and ridiculous tale, chisue.

I'm not yet of Medicare age, but what you're describing isn't too different from my experiences when dealing with other types of insurance companies. Why? It's the Walmart effect. Everyone is the same, we all too often shop by price alone. The providers (whether for services or for goods) do everything they can to minimize their costs so they can minimize their prices. They hire people at the bottom of the market who have limited capabilities, and we the customers get what we pay for. Low cost, low quality.

I hope you can get what you need without too much further aggravation. My own prescription drugs are few but I opt to get them in-person instead of using mail order (which would be 1/3 cheaper in co-pays). I do it that way to try to avoid problems. When I take trips, I fib to the pharmacy about when I'll be leaving and how long I'll be gone, so that I can get a "vacation renewal" weeks in advance of departure and perhaps 6 weeks in excess of what I need, just to avoid a hassle.

PS - no one should wish for a comprehensive single payer system, there are few examples of same that you'd want to have.

Although we don't have to do it because our Rx coverage is thru dh's retirement insurance, I agree that it is ~ridiculous~ to put Medicare-age people thru this hoop jumping every year. One can never get on top of understanding with the coverage changing every year. Just when you get the wrinkles smoothed out...oops time to go thru the hassle again!

People here might not have experienced delivery problems with their plans, but they probably haven't had a similar situation as yours, an exception that should be totally doable. How exasperating! I feel for you.

Sometimes you do get what you pay for - lower cost - lower quality customer service.

Snidely -- I disagree that single payer is worse in any way. We Americans pay outrageous amounts to insurers in order to get slight discounts on outrageously overpriced prescription meds. If the US prohibited advertising of prescription drugs -- like all other first world nations -- drugs would cost less. If the government controlled costs, drugs would cost less and we could eliminate 'the middle man' in insurance. Single payer would almost entirely eliminate this churning of re-enrollment every November, with all the advertising and promotional costs involved with that.

As for your Walmart comparison, prescription meds are not OTC items or impulse buys. A higher standard should apply or the Part D company's license should be pulled.

We did stockplie meds to see us through a reasonable period of adjustment. My DH had adequate meds through Jan. 14. I have a supply through the end of the month. *His* meds have not been available in extended supply until 2014. My Advair had no such restrictions.

If our meds were low cost, we would skip the mail order too. Advair retals for $250 a month. DH's two meds retail for over $500 a month, and his is the minimal dose for each.

This morning I've finally received a call from WellCare worker "Bella" (Filipina), saying the company will call Walgreen's on Maui to over-ride the refusal to cover my DH's meds. Why do I still think we will not see his mail order at this address within two weeks?

Immediately following "Bella's" call, I received an automated call from WellCare, asking me to rate their service. By responding in the extreme negative I was given the opportunity to leave a voice message. I noted the most recent 'success' and told them to have a *person* telephone me to hear the whole saga.

chisue, again, I'm sorry about the aggravation you're having. You've misunderstood me - as gibby3000 comments, I was referring to the cut-rate customer service you've (perhaps unwittingly) signed up for. The low quality is the service, not the drugs.

I'm intolerant of such runarounds and so I'm always alert to what I might do to avoid them in the first place. That's all I was saying.

As for single payer systems, I think you're misinformed but I'll leave it at that. I've personally experienced universal health care in Western Europe (not the UK), where coverage is mandatory but all service providers are in the private sector (including the health insurance administration itself done by private sector insurance companies). It works and works very well. That's not what we have now in the US, not even with Medicare, and in my view that's partially a root cause of Medicare's problems.

I am sorry you are going through this - and worry it could be in our future in Canada as well. My sister-in-law works for Canada Post and has just signed new medical contracts that would require her meds to be mailed to her. She is not happy and neither is anyone else. One woman takes the same eyedrops as my husband and they have to be refrigerated until opened. What about during the freezing weather and boy have we had it this year. Then there is the summer warmth - what will that do to prescriptions meds? We hardly have any prescriptions but in the warmer weather I take a cooler bag with me to big up the meds and always go directly home with them. Then we have the thievery issue - and it happens. And of course, delays in the mail. I was surprised that Canada Post which has a very strong union in Canada is doing this. I suspect that Canada Post in an attempt to retain business will be trying to market mail-order drugs to private companies and would look kind of foolish if they did not do it themselves (even for a Crown Corp. - the shareholders being the taxpayer). I hope you get everything sorted out. I know exactly what you mean about getting a different person every time you call and the next person having no record of the previous call.

chisue,
I too, just signed up with Wellcare as my Part D provider. When I saw my doctor two weeks ago, he said he would order a new medication for me. The office had my Wellcare card, and that should be all they needed, right? Wrong. I found your comments while waiting on hold for Wellcare. Long story short, one hour and 30 minutes later, I learned from ExactusRX, my prescription had not been ordered. When choosing my plan, I used a resource that helps people choose providers. I changed providers because the meds the doctor ordered for me were not in their formulary. It may be a long year.

Sorry to hear that. Sounds very frustrating. I hope he gets his meds soon! Having lived in Hawaii in the dark ages, I rewlly hope it gets there soon.

Here is another satisfied OptumRX customer. When I have cut it close for reordering, they work with my doctor and local pharmacy to get me a week or so of a "loaner" prescription until they can get one mailed out.

omg sure hope I can keep my simple target pharmacy, when the time comes! we've got medicare but use dh's company ins ...

My drugs run $4-8/month each with AARP.

Monica -- AARP isn't a provider. It sells its' name -- to United HealthCare, I believe.

I'm curious how you pay that little for what I think you've said are expensive RA meds. Do you know the retail cost of your meds? Do you pay a very high premium for the coverage? (DH and I -- together -- pay $571/yr. in premiums for Part D.)

BTW, I hope everyone reading remembers to submit ALL out of pocket health care (and dental) costs on your federal tax returns -- including premium costs for Medicare Parts B and D and any Medigap Supplemental. You'll get some tax relief on the portion of these costs that exceeds 7% of your taxable income. (I think it's seven. A little help, Snidely?)

From IRS Publication 502 (google it to get complete info)

"Generally, you can deduct on Schedule A (Form 1040) only the amount of your medical and dental expenses that is more than 10% of your AGI. But if either you or your spouse was born before January 2, 1949, you can deduct the amount of your medical and dental expenses that is more than 7.5% of your AGI."

People may also want to refer to IRS Publication 554, Tax Guide for Seniors.

My most costly RA med is Orencia, which is an infusion drug, covered partly by Medicare and the rest by my supplemental.Infusion costs about $1700/every 4 weeks.
If, for some reason I have to switch to the self-injectable, I'm covered.
Most of my drugs are generic, so I have the AARP for the occasional non-generic drugs that I have to take for other problems, and the premium is about the same as yours.