It appears I got caught by the bait and switch when it comes to my prescriptions. I got a message from ExpressScripts telling me that I could save money by moving my prescriptions to their service (they are also the provider of my prescription plan). The theory was, that I cannot get a 90-day supply of any of my meds from a retail pharmacy. So, every month I need to get my prescriptions filled, and every month I have a $10 co-pay for generics and $40 co-pay for brand names. With ExpressScripts, they promised me a 90-day supply for a $25 co-pay. This had the benefit of me not needing to refill nearly as often and that I’d pay less too.

With that, I switched. Then I noticed that I was paying more than $10 for a 30-day prescription. It didn’t make sense. I looked at the details. Seems that I have a $25 co-pay for any generic from Express Scripts and $100 for brand names. At the retail store, it is $10 and $40. The thing is Express Scripts won’t give me a 90-day supply of most of my meds. Even the ones they mentioned in the nice letter they sent me. So the “savings” that they are reporting in the letter are not possible because they won’t issue me a 90-day supply. In the end, I ended up paying more for much less service. It takes them 10-15 days to fill a prescription. I can get it at my retail pharmacy in about an hour for most things, a day for things they need to special order. I love the people at the local retail pharmacy, but I spend way too much time waiting in line their. They are so painfully slow to process and do checkout. Since many of my prescriptions renew at different times of the month, it means that I’m spending too much time in line once or twice a week, every week.

I’m trying out a new service (NimbleRx – my referral code:WvEKKZ) which delivers my prescriptions. From my insurance perspective, they are no different than any other retail pharmacy. I only get a 30-day supply, but I also only have a $10 co-pay. And they deliver. So, in theory, I can go online and request something and it will arrive at my door the same day. I say, in theory, because they appear to be a pretty new service and are experiencing some growing pains with their website. They have, however, been good to call me when they had problems. I’ll give them a try for the next month or two and see how that goes. I’m just so very annoyed with the whole switcheroo that happened with ExpressScripts! Ugg.