Mail Order Insulin

When my endocrinologist increase my insulin dosage, I asked her to send new prescriptions to Express Scripts, a mail order pharmacy that my company’s insurance uses. The main benefit is that I can get three month’s of medicine per order, instead of just one month from my local pharmacy. The disadvantage is that stuff sometimes just show up without any warning, and you do not have the option to return it. At the local pharmacy, if anything is wrong, I can refuse the order, and they either restock it, or send it back to the drug company. Not so for mail order since the mail order pharmacy cannot be responsible for tampering risk once the drugs leave their site.

For example, my endocrinologist ordered both Trujeo and Humalog for me last Thursday. I immediately got an email from Express Scripts saying they are working on the order. For the next few days, it was radio silence. When I checked their website, it said both prescriptions were in progress, but with no additional information (ETA, cost, etc). Just now, the status for both said shipped. I guess I am used to the Amazon model where I get lots of email notifying me of my order status. Fortunately, the medications are covered by my insurance so I am not stuck with huge co-pays. Still, the Humalog will cost me $60.

It is also surprising how much non-generic medications cost. Nowadays, most prescription receipts include pricing so you can see how much your insurance plan paid. In this case, the Humalog, I am only receiving a 67 days supply. Even so, my insurance paid $900. When I first refilled the medication, I took it to my local pharmacy, and they charged me $30 for one month supply, which worked out to be five pens. Does this mean I get 10 pens for $60? If so, then there is no advantage for me to go with Express Scripts. The Toujeo was different. It only cost insurance $353 for a 90 supply, and my co-pay is $0.

Due to an overzealous doctor at UCLA, most of my prescriptions were converted to Express Scripts. The only difference is for Tacroliums as most pharmacies do not take Medicare Part-B for drugs. My worked insurance paid for it once, but I am sending the prescription to UCLA’s pharmacy to be safe. It takes a bit of effort to manage 10 prescriptions at three different pharmacies though.