BCBS FEP Medicare Prescription Drug Plan switching prescriptions to mail order?

[Anonymous]

OK bear with me here.

Anyone a former fedgov worker, now retired and on Medicare?

Last year, those of us with BCBS were urged to switch our BCBS prescription plans to a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan through Caremark... we had to OPT OUT if we didn't want it.

I did not OPT OUT and had a bunch of headaches at first with prior authorizations but decided to stick with the plan due to inertia.

Now, it's a new year and suddenly my prescription renewals are being sent "by my doctor" to the Caremark Mail Order Pharmacy instead of to my regular CVS pharmacy. The two pharamcies are completely different legal entities. The Caremark Mail Order pharmacy sent me a letter saying they are holding my prescriptions until I call them and authorize them to mail them to me. I call the number and they make it VERY difficult to opt out. It is all sent up for you to say "yes" and get them mailed to you. No option to say "no".

I finally spoke to a human and asked why this was happening, and she just said my doctor sent them the prescriptions. She could cancel the prescription but I need the doctor to now write a NEW prescription and send it to my regular CVS.

So, I'm am REALLY annoyed. I never told my doctor to send my prescriptions to the mail order pharmacy and I highly doubt they just did it on their own. I think the Caremark insurance company is steering them towards doing this as a default.

I am wondering if any other people are experiencing the same thing?

[Anonymous]

Also - before you ask why I don't want mail order pharmacy...


1) NO SANE PERSON wants their medications to come in the mail any longer. This isn't 1980 when mail was actually still being reliably delivered.

2) It is SO DIFFICULT to get ahold of the mail order pharmacy. AT least my local CVS has a store I can drive to.

3) Package theft. If I lose or fail to get delivered a packaged with a 90 day supply of my meds.. now it is my word against the word of the pharmacy that they sent it versus I got it.

4) Controlled meds I have to pick up in person anyhow, so I'm at the CVS anyhow. Mail order just gives me an extra headache to deal with.