The Doctor Is In – Get Your Prescriptions on Time

Posted on October 15, 2012 by jtozer

Brig. Gen. W Bryan Gamble
Deputy Director, TRICARE Management Activity

TRICARE beneficiaries have several choices to obtain their prescription medications, which include pharmacies at military clinics and hospitals, Pharmacy Home Delivery and more than 57,000 in-network retail pharmacy locations nationwide.

Many beneficiaries find that military pharmacies, which fill brand name and generic prescriptions at no cost, are their best option, but you may decide the convenience of Home Delivery is right for you.

If you are using Home Delivery, you will want to do everything you can to ensure your prescriptions are delivered on-time and accurately. More than 1 million prescriptions ship monthly through Home Delivery, but there are times when a prescription can’t be filled and the order must be returned to the beneficiary.

The most common reason your medication cannot be filled is information missing from the prescription, such as a date of birth or address. If required information is missing, Express Scripts Inc., the TRICARE pharmacy contractor, will contact either you or the prescribing physician to try to get the appropriate information to fill your prescription.

Some medications may require prior authorization or approval, or have a limit on the quantity that can be prescribed at one time. To ensure your prescription is filled without a problem, you can call Express Scripts at 1-877-363-1303, or check out the formulary search tool for medication limitations.

It can be frustrating to receive a returned prescription or an “unable to fill” letter. The following are some suggestions to help avoid having a prescription returned:

  • -  Ask your physician to send prescriptions electronically to TRICARE Pharmacy Home Delivery.
  • -  If submitting a prescription by mail, make sure the patient’s name, date of birth, mailing address and the sponsor’s Social Security number are written clearly on the back of the prescription.
  • -  If you receive a message from Express Scripts about your prescription, or if you don’t receive a prescription you’ve ordered, contact Express Scripts right away to find out what you need to do to get your prescription filled.

TRICARE Pharmacy Home Delivery delivers prescription medications safely and securely right to your door. There is no cost for generic medications, and brand name medications cost only $9 for up to a 90-day supply, only a quarter the cost at a network retail pharmacy. Home Delivery has no shipping costs, and refills are easily ordered online, by phone, regular mail, or mobile app. Home Delivery also offers convenient notifications about order status, refill reminders, and assistance in renewing expired prescriptions.

For more information on TRICARE Pharmacy Home Delivery visit www.tricare.mil/homedelivery or the Express Scripts website at www.express-scripts.com/TRICARE. Smartphone users can download the Express Rx mobile app for free by going to www.express-scripts.com/mobile or by using services like the Apple App Store or Android Marketplace.

Written by Brig. Gen. W Bryan Gamble
Deputy Director, TRICARE Management Activity

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  • Dennis G. Thmpson

    I have two problems with using mail delivery or Luke AFB Pharmacy. First, the base pharmacy has only about 50 % of my wife’s medications on hand for dispensing. Most important objection to mail order is that most prescriptions are not supposed to be kept over 77 degrees F nor below about freezing. In Arizona in is unlikely that packages can or will be kept below the max recommended temperature and if ice packs are used, then many are too cold. In addition maintaining proper storage for her twenty or so active medications in 90 day amounts present a problem as well. Her medications are subject to change often so working with a reliable local pharmacy probably saves money in fewer wasted medications. Please make rational decision which does not penalize my spouses healthcare and keep co-pays at the lowest possible level!

    • Daniel Skopp

      Dennis? Can you get your needed medication on the local econemy?

  • RobDH

    There are thousands of military retirees eligible for TRICARE living in the Philippines. There are many good doctors here. Why won’t TRICARE Pharmacy accept prescriptions written by these doctors? There are virtualy no doctors with US license. The Philippins is an exception to the rule and allows prescriptions (only from TRICARE Pharmacy) to come through the US Embassy and be delivered to our FPO mail box at the Retired Affairs Office (RAO). We need help.

  • Anonymous

    What about the Retiree in the Philippines Brig. General? We don’t count anymore?

  • Retired MCPO

    First of all, I have to say that I use Tricare pharmacy home delivery and appreciate the convenience. However, I do have some issues and when I call Express Scripts to discuss these issues I feel that I am treated like I’m from another planet and get no satisfaction. Often, the person I contact tells me that I make a valid point and they understand my issue, but their system (not sure if they mean computer software or procedures imposed by management) does not allow them to implement recommendations regardless of merit. The system forces them and users to comply even if it is extremely frustrating. I come from a military background and during my service I was always pleased to see sound recommendations result in positive change. The issues I have encountered are so frustrating that I am on a personal campaign to utilize the local military pharmacy more by working with provider’s to change my wife’s and my prescriptions to an alternative that is in the military formulary and therefore wean us from the home delivery system.

    Please supply us with a Tricare point of contact who oversees the Express Scripts Contractor so we may relay our issues, where they can be investigated and we can possibly get something done toward improvement. I could enumerate the issues here, but I’m not sure of the audience and whether it would be constructive and/or do me any good. I would be happy to discuss my issues with anyone who expresses an interest..

  • fortressofcomfort

    This is ridiculous. I’ve been going to Walgreens for years and, with my Cigna PDP plan, have been getting 90 day supplies of all my medications. If the doctor writes it that way, they would fill it. Now with all these stupid mail order pharmacies, the big insurers are no longer allowing people to get all 90 days of their medication at a time at the brick and mortar store; now we HAVE to go through mail order pharmacy. Obviously mail order pharmacy is flawed because half the meds I’ve ever taken say “store between 20*C and 25*C” That’s like 68*F and 77*F and how often is it precisely between those temperatures as the medication makes its multi-day trip to your house? Anyway, literally the last time I went to get a script filled, either the pharmacy (Walgreens) or the insurer (Cigna) changed the script! I mean, if a doctor writes “take one tablet 3 times a day”, #270, no refills, that’s a 90 day supply; no “refills” involved. It just seems insane that anyone can alter a doctor’s orders/scripts; I thought that was the golden rule. None of my friends have PDPs and they never have any issues getting anything when they go to any pharmacy. Very inconvenient, all of this, and its obviously a way for the big insurers to get in bed with their “selected” pharmacy partner (ExpressScripts, Medco, Argus, etc.) and not have to pay the slightly higher brick and mortar prices. So tired of this crap. I’ve always been to the same doctors, same pharmacies, even the same insurances for years and the benefits, like 90 day supplies at brick and mortar, we are slowly losing while no one notices.