Medco - Prescription Delays

I have had three prescription refills ** up by Medco, because their internal communication system is extremely poor. I get on the phone, and end up speaking to a supervisor and/or manager, who assure me the matter is resolved, and the medicines will be sent out, express mail only, to have them not arrive. We called again, and again, and again, begging for them to send out medicines for my heart condition and diabetes. Today, the last straw was some numb nut called to "clarify" some information about a prescription I was assured three days ago would be sent out.

She was nasty when challenged, and said it was my fault this problem occurred. I explained this problem was on their end and why, to which she had no reply. In the meantime, I have had my defibrillator fire off, and my blood sugar rise steadily, because of the delays and lies on their part. The right had doesn't know what the left hand is doing. I have spoken to people in every part of the country, who assure me the medicines are on their way from the pharmacy in New Jersey, and only come to find out they are not. I plan on taking my business elsewhere. I am a retiree who was removed from a great pharmacy service, and put into this awful and slip shod company's clutches under my retiree's benefits. I've had enough of their incompetence, and based on the other reviews I've read, so have many others yet they have done nothing to clean up their act.

Medco delayed a prescription order that was to be processed through automatic refill in December 2011. When they processed the order, they called to get a credit card approval for a brand name drug, which I need, and have my doctor's statement of that requirement on record at Medco. Perspiration pricing through 2011 reflected that, until this December order. Because I put the order on hold to resolve this, Medco said that it was then a 2012 order, changing the amount due from $0 in 2011, to over $2,500 in 2012. Medco delayed processing this order for over four weeks, while I tried to work this out. Because I was running out, I agreed in mid-January, to pay the price, as long as my doctor's April 2011 override was honored.

Today, 2/4/2012, I was told after numerous phone calls, and website communications, that the order was now being processed, and that I should receive it next week. This is a continuous ongoing problem with Medco that occurs several times a year. They won't give me cost estimates for scheduled orders, until the orders have been shipped, when it's too late to resolve any cost issues. How can I get Medco to communicate their cost estimates in a timely manner, so that any issues can be resolved before it becomes a timing or supply problem?

I am a retired state worker and Medco has taken over our prescription supplies instead of Caremark as of January 1, 2012. Caremark transferred over all of my scripts with renewals on them. The first two refill orders I put through on their website shipped promptly; however, since then every script I requested has been delayed to the point I have run out of meds. One script the doctor called in never appeared on their website. However, the brand name did and they wanted $100 copay instead of the $14 to ship the generic which the doctor had called in. I have called numerous times and they they "can't find" the generic script, it shows in their system but they can't figure out what happened to it.

When I questioned why the brand name showed up, they said that's what the doctor called in. This is not true because I have been on the generic for years. I think they switched it themselves. As far as the other scripts are concerned, if I order online, it takes numerous phone calls to get them. My scripts are maintenance medications for blood pressure and other heart related, and blood thinners. They are endangering my life. I have advised my children who have my power of attorney that should I have a medical problem with regard to lack of these medications due to their failure to deliver, they are to contact an attorney who specializes in negligent medical people and sue. I find their behavior life threatening and am contacting every agency I can to see if they can be put out of business due to failure to live up to their mission.

Prescriptions sent to Medco. It was received by them on 12/30/11. My computer account says they would be mailed by 1/12/12. Medications are for a seizures and brain swelling in a brain cancer patient. I checked a few days later and the delivery date changed to 1/19/12. I am now worried we will run out of medication. I got prescription for seven days supply to cover until delivery. Now, the date is 1/20/12. I kept calling and could not get a straight answer. Finally, the operator says they do not have the physicians address. Okay, I called the doctor's office to have them call and give them the address. They would not take the address from me. I am a retired registered pharmacist. They couldn't look it up in a physicians database or by DEA number that was on the prescription?

He has two offices. Perhaps, they couldn't figure that out? Well, I called next day to make sure they had the information. Operator says yes and for an extra fee can expedite the order. I said okay. I checked again the next day on the computer account and the day has not changed. I called again and they said they still needed information and said they had been trying to reach the doctor. The office always answers on the 2nd or 3rd ring so I doubt that. I got really mad then, and finally got someone to really expedite the order so we got it in time. The worst service I have ever had from any company. Their website for customers is really bad also. It's very hard to figure out what is sent and what is not. And medications that you no longer use, they are still trying to get your doctor to okay. You cannot cancel the order from your profile.

They send orders out on their worry-free program so you end up with meds you do not need. I cancelled the program and lo and behold, they are back on again! Their emails to you about any problem list only a 4 digit number, allegedly the end of a prescription number but I couldn't find that we had any number like that. What a mess. When I worked, I certainly would never have let my patients down that way. I goes against everything I stood for. I wish I could get the medications elsewhere. The generics I can find locally for a reasonable price I am doing so. Perhaps, I will look into Canadian pharmacies, even though I do not agree with doing that. I want the local pharmacies to get the business.

Mid-November, I received an email stating that my husband's prescriptions needed a new prescription and they would be contacting the doctor's office to renew them. A couple of weeks later, they sent an email stating no response from the doctor's office. I called the doctor and they said they would fax the renewal to Medco, also that they probably already have done so, but Medco has been known to claim "they haven't received a fax" before.

Now, my husband is almost out of his prescriptions. So now I have to get an emergency prescription at a local pharmacy and pay full price then send it into Medco. Ten days later and numerous calls to Medco and them claiming no fax from the doctor, I physically went to the doctor's office, got new written prescriptions and mailed them to Medco. I have called constantly, told they were sending three prescriptions (he has a total of 6) on an emergency and never mailed them! I don't want our doctor furious at us for bothering them about prescriptions but how can they not be furious when they too have to deal with Medco? Over a month and half have passed and we still have not received one prescriptions.

I would have picked "0" stars if I could have. I am so glad to be switching to a new prescription drug coverage next year! I have had nothing but headaches and issues with Medco from the beginning. The customer service is atrocious at best. They are rude and completely uneducated about their company and its plans. You receive different information from each representative you speak with. No one ever states the same policy on any issue.

First, they tried to deny medications that my doctor specifically requested (with prescription and official letter) for me because they were supposedly "not covered" under my plan. After reading my plan information I discovered that even if a drug is not routinely covered on the plan, Medco must cover it (albeit at a very high copay) when directly requested by a physician due to allergic reaction to other covered drugs in the same category. When this was brought to their attention, they reluctantly agreed to cover my migraine meds.

Their billing department also has to be one of the worst in the country. There is never a due date on their bills, just "due upon receipt". I always pay them once I received them; however, I was told on my last phone call with them that I had been past due several times! What? They stated that there were several instances where they had not received payment until a past due notice was sent. I explained to them that I had only ever received one past due notice and that was because the payment got crossed up and I was told (a lie apparently) that this was reversed on the account history. Unbelievable.

The most recent issues I've had with them both occurred this year. Earlier in the year I received a generic of my birth control instead of the name brand Yasmin 28 which I've been receiving for 2 years. They suddenly switched me without warning because they "no longer stock Yasmin 28" and if I wanted to continue receiving that, I'd have to request it and pay the extra cost. I am unable to take generic BC as it causes horrible side effects. So I requested Yasmin and was told they would refund my $25 payment for the incorrect med and ship out the new meds. When I got them there was also a bill charging me for both meds. When I called I was told that I was responsible for both charges. I then requested that the manager review the phone conversation where I had been told otherwise. A week later my money was refunded. Guess they realized they didn't have a leg to stand on.

The most recent issue was with my asthma inhalers. I was called on 11/29/11 and told that I needed to pay at least $150 to have my meds released and the rest could be billed to me. I asked if I could call and pay the next week as I had just paid another bill with them. He said yes. When I called today (12/7/11) I was told that I needed to pay not $150, but $200! I requested to speak to a manager (yet again) and was transferred to Cara **. She stated that they are never allowed to bill more than $100 and she didn't know why the rep would have told me differently. I then requested that she review the phone call from 11/29/11 to which she replied rudely, "I can do that, but what do want us to do with your order?

Get only one med? Cancel it all together? I said, "I would like you to honor what your representative told me last week and let me pay $150 to release them all." She then stated that since I had been "past due" several times in the past (again, I'm not sure where they are getting this from), they could not allow me to do that. I then told her that I was reporting them to every consumer agency I could find and hung up. What a waste of time! It just astounds me that companies like this are still allowed to operate.

Awful! I have had to deal with this prescription plan for years and every time I need a renewal, there is an issue. I have not gotten my prescription on time. I have had to go back to my doctor for an additional prescription to fill in the delay time (costing me an additional co-pay). I have been told that I have only limited amounts of medicines available, although my doctor had written prescription as he felt was best for the patient. When I did get the "fill-in" prescription, I was told that I would not be charged for it, but I was!

Please note that all bottles and labels look the same. Some pills come in one form one time and the next time, they look different. How the ** am I supposed to figure out what the ** I'm taking? I can't understand how older patients (I'm not even 50) can tell the difference! No wonder there are re-admits to hospitals. It seems a very dangerous practice. Does this meet standards?

The delay in medication resulted in the exacerbation of my disease. I would rather pay a small Mom and Pop pharmacy and get quality care than save a few pennies (which doesn't really add up) from a huge monopoly of medicine distribution. Go Canada!

Medco uses bait and switch. They promise certain maintenance drugs free and then charge you for them at exorbitant prices.

Medco shipped medication that is to be refrigerated in an envelope that had two ice packs in it. The medication was warm and unusable per the manufacture of the medication. When I called Medco, they will not replace the medication since they feel that if the medication is warm, it is ok.

Medco.com mail order pharmacy is useless. When they are unable to refill because the doctor does not respond to them, they notify the customer long after the customer has run out of the medications. Many times, the doctor is never contacted for some reason. And Medco just says the order could not be filled because the doctor never responded to their contact. I have been battling this issue for months. I would rather go to my retail pharmacy and pay more, than to try to rely on Medco to get it right.

Due to our insurance, we are forced to use Medco for long-term prescriptions. In the past years, they have not been a problem. However, this year has been quite another story. The current and serious situation with this company is the following: I submitted a prescription for a narcotic nasal spray. However, my physician wrote the prescription incorrectly; rather than receiving a ninety-day supply, I received only the same amount as I was at the local pharmacy. I contacted Medco upon the arrival of the medication and was instructed return to my doctor and obtain a new prescription. The Medco representative added up the exact amount needed for the 90-day quantity, and gave me the instructions to give to my primary care physician (PCP).

I made the appointment; did as I was instructed, and mailed in the new prescription. Now we come to the issue of not being able to receive this medication. I have spoken to numerous representatives, and each has told me that, "Your medication will arrive in three days. It is on order, and we will call you back." It never happened. I have told them the dire situation of this medication. It cannot be stopped; it is a class II substance and is being used for possible kidney cancer or failure. The immediate stop of this medication can produce serious withdrawal symptoms (some leading to death), and I also have a heart condition. They are aware, and still I cannot obtain my medication. This is not acceptable! The representatives are placing the blame on the pharmacist, who are suppose to be citing whether or not the patients need the medicine, that is the physician's job!

For several years, we used Medco for mail order prescriptions. In 2009, we started getting them mailed late and couldn't seem to get straight answers as to why. So we stopped using them. Now, with our coverage penalizing us for using the local pharmacy, we are forced to use Medco for a mail order medication called Creon for our daughter who has Cystic Fibrosis. If she doesn't take this medication with everything she eats, she will get sick, lose weight and be hospitalized.

If we choose to use the local pharmacy, the co-pay would be over 7 times more expensive. We would be unable to purchase this medication any other way other than mail order. So the problem now is --nothing has changed. Since August 16th, I have fought Medco to get this medication mailed to us and getting several stories from, "You have to pay a remaining balance first" then another call said we "had to pay upfront instead of bill" to "we will expedite this right away sir, you should have it in 3 days". Only to find out through UPS that the medication wont be here until Aug 31st!

My daughter will be out of this medication by then. The last person I spoke to was Karen ** in the Irving, TX office. She, like all the others were polite and showed care and concern. But as I explained to her, "You are only as good as your word", "And nice doesn't cut it for me anymore". They said they would authorize a 3-day supply for my daughter that had to be called in by the doctor by end of business 3 days from today. Today is Friday, the doctor won't be in until Monday! It will take all day to get them to fill that script --if it gets done at all. I am so over this! Please help if you can!

I tried to get my regular prescription renewed through MedCo, but couldn't get that done, so I had to go get it refilled at a retail pharmacy because I was running out of the pills. But MedCo told me that they could transfer my prescription from the retail pharmacy to their mail-order pharmacy to save me money.

A week later, I got a message that my prescription can't be refilled because my doctor has not returned MedCo's fax request form. I called my doctor's office who confirmed that they never received phone calls or a fax from them. When I called MedCo, they told me that MedCo sent my personal health information to some fax number that was not even close to my doctor's fax number. My doctor has been at the same office with the same fax number for decades.

This drug has been refilled by MedCo for the past year. Yet, they sent my personal health information to some fax number that MedCo could not tell me where they got it from. They said they had to follow the fax number that is on their information for my doctor. I had no problems for the last year getting the same medication from the same doctor.

I am concerned that my health information, social security number and other personal information have been given to someone who should not have it. I want to know why they can't tell me where my personal health information went, and how they can state that is the fax number that they have on file for my doctor.

About a month ago, I started using my new employer provided RX plan Medco. I usually get my RX for Cytomel from Walmart. It was 14 for the last year with my previous RX insurance. With my new benefit at Walmart, it was $28 for 30-day supply.

Because I can not afford to pay this much, I decided to try the mail-order program with my new insurance Medco. When I called the medco customer service line, they told me that the RX qualified for the three-month supply and I needed to have my doctor send a prescription.

My doctor faxed the RX three times because they lost the first two. The representative told me that three months of supply would cost $48. About two weeks after I spoke to them, I received an automated call that said my RX was being shipped. I got the RX today, it's been another two weeks.

When I opened the package, I saw that the RX was filled for only one month. Also, the amount due was $42. I called the customer no service line and they said that the RX they received from my doctor was for 30 days and that they do not ask for anything different. I told her that I did not want them and that I needed to send them back because I could not pay for them. She said that there was a no-return policy and that I would have to pay the amount due.

It is extremely depressing to look at a nearly empty pill bottle, and know I have to either try to reorder, or choose to do without. I never knew what depression was until I had to start dealing with them.

Damage Resulting: Money and time lost. Damage to kidneys, eyes, heart, etc. for both me and my 15-year-old son.

Without my medication my symptoms of MS have worsened which has caused me to miss work and be bedridden. I will also have to start at a lower dose if I ever receive it and taper up to a full dose suffering side effects from having prior withdrawal.