I was on vacation from WA state and needed a prescription filled ASAP. I contacted my Dr. to send my prescription to a pharmacy in Sun City West. My physician has full knowledge of my healthcare plan and approved providers. She sent the prescription to Banner Pharmacy. Fast fill of the prescription. When I went to pick it up, the clerk told me my insurance wasn’t accepted but they gave me what discount they could or I could try a different pharmacy. The script was $88. I’m already frustrated because it took me 15 minutes to figure out how to enter the building to get to the pharmacy. Since I’m on vacation, I decide to pay the amount and leave. I go outside to call my pharmacy representative and find out I am covered by their network but the number of my plan was not put in correctly. Long story short, after contacting my pharmacy rep twice and having a rep call the pharmacy once on my behalf, the pharmacy still refused to cover my prescription even though my own insurance was telling them I was covered. Later, after talking to my dad, he told me he had similar problems when he first moved here, and they finally figured out to put it under Arizona Blue Cross even though the original Blue Cross insurance originated in WA state. Needless to say, I left the pharmacy the 2nd time completely emotionally drained and depleted. I didn’t feel like it was my job to tell them how to do theirs. I just don’t understand why a pharmacy employee, who is literally on the phone with the insurance provider telling them that they are part of my plan’s network, that she wouldn’t take a moment to try to problem solve the issue. I would be thinking, “There must be a way to process this if the insurance provider is telling me that this patient is covered…” I literally had no words when she repeated the same response of, “Our system is telling us that your out of state insurance is not part of our network.” Are we now letting the computers do the thinking for us? ~Cindy
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