Holdiong
Down Prescription Costs
 Brother's
and Sister's, as you all are aware the costs of prescription drugs and
health care are right out front with all of the political debates that
have been going on and will continue to be a very burning issue in our
contract negations and with the political elections in November.
I went on line and have been doing some investigations about drug prices.
Most of us use the MEDCO mail in prescriptions to save money on the 90
day supplies. WELL, I have had my eyes opened during my investigations!
First of all the $4.00
lists that Walmart (I know I can hear the groans already and wondering
WHY WOULD ANYONE GO TO Walmart! Those of us who are retired and on fixed
incomes will tell you one word MONEY! That's why.) and TARGET have out
there are the SAME! So if you don't want to shop Walmart you can go to
TARGET and spend the same amount for generic prescriptions. So what I would
recommend everyone to do is print out a copy off the Internet and take
it to your doctor and have them put the list in your file and when it comes
time for a prescription have the doctor look to see if the medicine is
on the list and go that route for your prescription instead of MEDCO by
mail. Now another interesting bit of information that I discovered a medicine
that I take is $50.00 for a 90 days supply at Met MEDCO, at Target the
same medicine is $4.00 a 30 day supply making a 90 day supply $12.00 a
difference of $38.00. HELLO - Where am I going to get that medicine?
Also I had heard that you didn't need to be a member to use the Costco pharmacy. Well that did turn out to be TRUE! Since the pharmacies are state and federal regulated you have everyright to use them WITHOUT A MEMBERSHIP. To stare and compare prices you can access the information at www.costco.com and look for the pharmacy and access it that way. The same medicine at Medco again was $50.00 and at Costco it was $16.50 so again it was cheaper than MEDCO and some were cheaper than Target so again SHOP AROUND for the best "deal". So if you are out traveling and need some prescriptions or are at home you have more money saving options at your fingers. It's also a way to help lower the high costs of prescriptions that the company will be saying is killing them. So again if you know of any retirees that don't have access to the Internet please pass this along to them so we can help everyone save some money. After all that's the name of the game! The
Wal*Mart $4 Perscription web site.
If you have any questions please contact jimperkey@cwa7102.org In Unity, Jim Perkey EVP, 7102 Note: The Medco section
on www.myuhc.com
has an option "My RX Choices" that will check your current drugs
and tell you what they cost and if there is a generic that has a lower
co-pay cost to it. Also by going to "Claims and Balances" on
the site it will show what the plan paid and what you paid on
the drugs you ordered.
When dealing with Medical or the Qwest Service Center, have a pen and paper handy and take notes. REMEMBER the W's: Who did you talk to? When did you talk to them? Why did you talk to them? What did you ask them? What did they say? When you talk to the Qwest Service Center (1 800 729 7526) they will give you a tracking or case number -- very decent of them and VERY helpful! Keep your receipts, insurance papers and notes in a file folder - this can be REAL helpful. Health Benefits
Coordinators
Do not hesitate to use the HBC if you need assistance. |
The new Qwest Health and Life Web site www.qwesthealthandlife.com This site will be available after 05:00 AM CST on 01-Aug-2010. Qwest Savings
United Health
Care Medical and Prescription Drugs
For Retorees
Forms Debit
Authorization Form
The following have assisted
our members with questions on pensions
Whelan & Associates
Wealth Managemenent
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