Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Pharmacy suckage

No one has Ganirelix. It's on back order until mid-March.

Well, no one except Walgreens specialty pharmacy (i.e. Schrafts), which it turns out is supposedly not covered by my insurance.

SUNDAY: I went to my local pharmacy. Answer=can't get it until March due to manufacturing back order.

MONDAY: When I went in for my baseline scan, asked the doctor for an alternative medicine, but it turns out Schrafts has Ganirelix, so they fax my Rx there and we give them all our informtion.

After 3 days of back and forth with Schrafts and their insurance people, I realized I NEVER want to deal with them again. Day 1: My insurance was declined because Schrafts recorded my birthdate wrong. Day 2: Supposedly, my insurance company "couldn't find me." BUT, by the way, they COULD find my husband. I'm on the same plan. Day 3 (today): I demanded they call back the insurance company that very moment while I waited on the line, the story became "declined due to being out of network".

HOWEVER... my insurance company (Caremark) told me last night and again today that I should be covered at this pharmacy. For this particular drug. Can't Walgreens and Caremark play nicer with each other? This is rediculous!

So... they tell me for specialty I have to go to CVS specialty pharmacy, and so after losing an hour to arguing with Schrafts, I call CVS Specialty.

"Do you have Ganirelix?" I ask.
"Yes" they say.
"Am I covered by my insurance wtih you?"
"Yes" they say.

So... I ask my doctor to fax the Rx to them. I even mentioned to CVS that Ganirelix was on back order, and they assured me they had it in stock.

When I called back at 4:00, what do I hear? "We verified your insurance, but Ganirelix is on back order so we can't get it to you."



So... I called my doctor AGAIN, this time asking for an alternative to Ganirelix. Centritide. The one where you have to mix the powder and liquid that looks all intimidating. Crap. BUT, at least it's on it's way, and I can continue my cycle uninterupted.

But still - what a crappy day.

6 comments:

  1. So sorry, I am glad this cycle can get started with something.

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  2. Don't you just want to smack them sometimes? What about Freedom Fertility Pharmacy? They are by phone order, but your RE can order through them, and they ship overnight...they were pretty damn awesome. But you'd have to see about the insurance thing. Good luck!

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  3. Totally agree about the Freedom Pharmacy. My stuff arrived fast and there was never an issue of having or not having stuff in stock. The nurse called it in, and the stuff that could be easily picked up at a brick-and-mortar pharm she gave me a script to get filled.

    So sorry that the insurance and pharmacies are jerking you around! Like you need more complications!

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  4. I nominated you for an award. You can check it out on my blog.

    pez

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  5. That sucks. Don't you just hate it when the pharmacy/insurance/whatever can't get their head out of their ___ and just get stuff done? Good Luck!

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  6. Holy crap! WTF!??! I have been hearing a lot of people having issues with ganrilex.

    IF sucks enough without MORE HEADACHES!

    How are the shots going?

    Good luck sweetie. You guys totally deserve a BFP with a happy/healthy 10 months to come.

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