Express Scripts Reviews

Express Script plays the game of stating that you do not meet the criteria for that drug, but when you go through their appeals process, you never win. When comparing what medications she, her co workers and I have been denied as not meeting criteria, it is never medications that have a cost comparable to aspirin, but in my case, a medication that costs only $3.60 a tablet. In my wife's case, the medication that would allow her to work a full 8 hour work day cost more than $20 a tablet, which by Express Scripts denial she can now only work part-time.

No wonder this government is in the mess it is in. You want health care to be taken care of? Then do something about this Medco Mail Order. My Co-Pay is supposed to be $20 and $40 why am I not getting this? Please help us fight for what is right. Take care of the people that pay your salary. This is part of our prescription drug plan through our work place of ConAgra Foods and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska which is coming up for negotiations in the new year. Guess what, I will do everything in my power to get rid of you and your corrupt company.

Express Scripts began processing my 2 separate orders Oct 8, 2011, and the note in my file says one was shipped Oct 11 from Tempe, AZ, the other shipped Oct 15 (from a different location). I received the one shipped Oct 15, but never the one supposedly shipped Oct 11.

After waiting the required 12 days, I called, and the automated system listed my order of this medication as having shipped Oct 24, ETA Nov 3. (This date was never listed on the website. ) By Oct 24, however, I was out of medicine.

By Nov 4, when the medication had still not arrived, I called again, to hear the automated system state again that it shipped Oct 24 ETA Nov 3. I navigated the menu and spoke to a person, who said that, no, it had been shipped on Oct 11. She placed a replacement order for me, but told me it would cost me $20 to ship it since it had been less than 30 days. Upon hearing this, I hung up rather than filling the phone line with expletives. (Understandably I'd be perturbed that the pharmacy is charging me for their mistake, one which they make constantly. )

As I said, Express Scripts does this to me every, and I mean EVERY, time with this particular medication. (I generally have no problems with my other 2 orders every quarter, coming from other locations. ) As of Nov 7, not only have I been out of my medication two weeks, but the replacement order is not listed either in the phone system or online. I sent an email message via the website (because if I get on the phone again, it would not be pleasant).

Medco customer service called at 5:30 pm EST to verify an address that they have had on file for years already. Again, this is a medication that a patient cannot be without. After getting jerked around by two ** who claimed to be supervisors, (one was named David ** and the other ** was named Dante **), both who coincidentally and conveniently didn't have an employee ID # for me to refer to, my daughter is still without her medication. The staff at Medco is incompetent, unprofessional, patronizing, and condescending. My daughter has been without her medication based on the gross incompetence of these overpaid ** who failed to provide any level of customer service.

Dante ** (if that is his real name), committed to an overnight delivery on 11/4/11, but much to my dismay, he had simply made a false statement committing to an overnight delivery and neglectfully failed to fulfill her order. Surprise, surprise. Anyone and everyone who has ever had an adverse experience with this terrible company should write to their insurance companies to insist that another company be used instead of Medco. The only reason that Medco is in business is because the insurance companies pay them to provide a service that they failed to adequately provide over and over again.

If all of the patients who have been wronged by this pharmaceutical giant stand together like the Occupy Wall Street movement, Medco just might be in for a rude awakening. In what world would a consumer want to continuously enable an inferior vendor to continue to provide a disservice and still get paid? Medco is terrible and should be held accountable for the terrible customer service that they provide, and the insurance companies should cease and desist using this company. There are no consequences for this company unfortunately.

I just wanted to let people out there, who actually have a choice, know not to use Medco because your local pharmacy will serve you better!

I was told that my doctor could send a note or call Medco and explain to them that the brand name drug was medically necessary. After the doctor did that, the cost went down from nearly $1,000 to $100. The last time I went online to order a refill, the price was not $100 but $1,412! I called Medco and was told that the price break expired on August 6, 2011, even though two different Medco phone representatives told me earlier this year that the price authorization was good until January 20, 2012. I was told that my doctor would have to notify Medco, that is was again medically necessary that I take the brand name.

I contacted my doctor and told him the story. He said that he'd follow through. When the price didn't drop from $1,412 online, I called Medco and they said they hadn't heard from the doctor. I called the doctor back and was told that they had spent an hour on the phone with Medco, who said they couldn't do anything about the price. I called Medco back and was told that they were sorry that I had repeatedly received the wrong information from Medco phone representatives, that my doctor can't do anything, that I have to write an appeal and send it to an address in Texas, and that the appeal would take 30 days.

After four weeks and numerous calls to Medco, I'm running out of medication and I don't want to spend $1,412 for a refill that cost $100 last time. Medco is giving me the run around. I believe this is fraudulent behavior and that something should be done about it

Last week, my husband renewed a medication that should have cost $5, they billed us $25. I called and immediately had the order cancelled and reordered under my account. The order didn't come. I called today to see when the shipment would be coming, I was told within a few days. The price was $10.06. I asked why. I was told that the doctor faxed the script in without my plan. We hadn't asked for a new script, only a refill. I called the doctor's office. Medco had called the doctor's office and asked that he be put on a different medication!! The office had faxed the script in, but left off my plan number, so it was filled under his plan. So instead of paying $5, we were being charged double. I refused and said I should only pay $5. No payment - no drugs - what choice did I have? They claim that no price adjustments can be made after the drugs are mailed.

In July this type of scheme cost us $200, so as a result our FSA is wiped out for this year. Last year they did the same thing and cost us thousands of dollars. I am on the phone at least once a week trying to limit the financial damage to my household budget!

Meanwhile, I can't get my blood pressure medication filled. I have talked to about 8 people in total and only 2 were nice. There are some rude people working at Express Scripts. Whatever happened to customer service with a smile? It stopped at the front door of Express Scripts. Especially when you prove they were wrong, they get real nasty then. All I wanted to do was send the medication back because I did not want to buy medication for three months in case they changed and I did not want to pay for medication that I could not use. This has been an overwhelming experience.

No drugs. This is a major problem for folks. Also, I have 2 different dates on reorder for the same drug, so which date is right? I don't know, for some reason, the auto-fill just didn't work. Well, I guess you get what you pay for and with Home Delivery advertising zero-cost for many drugs, what can you expect? I will give them another 30 days and then off to a real pharmacy and a letter or two to Congress. Already though, I have spent more time on the telephone resolving issues than if I had just stayed with a retail pharmacy.

So I am paying over $120.00 for medicine that I will not be able to use versus the $36.00 I paid retail for one tube. I have called several times, and they told me they would get back to me in 24 hrs. That was Oct 12. I kept calling, and they said it was in review.

Medco now has over $150 out of my HRA, which they claim they cannot put back. My company's HR said that Medco would cut me a check which I would receive in 15 days. It has now been over 25 business days and I still have no check. Medco is a seriously dishonest company. They have my money and I'm sure they are just hoping I will go away. I would rather go without pharmacy insurance than to deal with this company.

My advice to anyone out there is to call your HR department and get them to straighten these folks out. I explained that I could go into a coma without my drug, I begged them to send it, I went up two levels of supervisors. Nothing moves these people like a call from the HR department. Dealing with them is more stressful than my condition. Please don't let them get away with it.

Don't let them charge your credit card for drugs you didn't order either! That's not legal! That's outrageous!

From my experience, complaining directly to Express Scripts is a waste of time. The poor people who answer the phone there are not given the training nor the authority to help you. If you want satisfaction, you need to call your HR department, or someone who regulates Express Scripts. Don't trust them either, I can't believe how many stories I was told or just flat-out lied to. There's nothing Express about Express Scripts.

They have poor customer service.

Who the hell do they think they are acting as the gestapo pharmacy insurance company? As an insurance company and pharmacy, their job is to fill the prescriptions written by your doctor and not censor them! What I'd like to know is who do you file a formal complaint with, or are there enough people out there with similar problems with Express Scripts to file a class action suit against them? I am pissed. They have been hell to deal with for over five years. I am so sick of it.

I called Medco and they told me they don't carry my generic which is why I got something that is similar to what I was supposed to get. Who gave them authorization to do this? My doctor sure as ** didn't. They said it wouldn't matter if my doctor refaxes the prescription or anything because if they don't carry it they can't send it to me.

Are you kidding me? So as of this Sunday I have no more pills. My doctor did not authorize anyone to give me anything else because she knows my medical history and they still did because they don't have it.

Then, my doctor called to see what that mess was and to submit my yearly renewals. They said, "She isn't out of the previous years yet, so we can't take the prescription." My doctor informed them that she just wanted it attached to my account, so that we wouldn't have to deal with them for another year and that we didn't need it refilled. She just want to put the prescriptions on there so they are there when I have to refill. No, they won't do that. You have to wait until your prescriptions run out. Then, you have to wait the 3 months that it typically takes for them to get their junk together (because they will lose it, say they never got it, attach it to someone else's account, it gets lost in the mail etc.).

God forbid you take your prescription to your neighborhood drug store, because then they will charge you at least double for not sending to them. My doctor is filing a complaint as am I on every single forum I can possibly find! These people are crazy! Good luck on getting someone who speaks English, not to mention any customer service! They should all be fired and will certainly go bankrupt should their actual customers ever have the choice of whether to use them or not! I don't care how much your company is saving on health insurance costs. It isn't worth it to deal with these nincompoops!

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!

I contacted the state retirement and they had no record of having contacted Medco. I spent two days making many phone calls to Medco trying to get dis-enrolled. Finally, the state retirement system contacted them for me. According to the Medco people, their "system was being updated" and it would take several days to dis-enroll me. In the meantime, I am without my medicine that needs to be refilled.

I have drugs sitting in my house for which I had to pay for but don't use. I keep getting more. I am slowly changing over to a local pharmacy for service, even though I have to pay more. This is very bad customer service and dangerous.

My doctor called in an Rx in April 2011. I did not order it as I still have 2 of the 3 Rx's of the same medicine. It seems we all must be on Express Scripts' arbitrary time schedule. In April, they called to fill this medicine, to which I declined as I still have 2 months worth. I was going to the doctor and who knows it may be changed! The person never told me that because I did not order it (even though they filled it before). They canceled it! I called in Monday, 10/3, ordered it and I was told it would take a day.

Next day, they called and said "we are not filling this as you canceled it back in April". I am at work so I asked them to call the doctor to get a renewal or whatever they need. The woman on the line said, "No, I am not a doctor. You need to do that yourself!". Her name was Jessica. I asked for a supervisor, Joyce. After 10 minutes of cellular waste, she got on and sarcastically confirmed what I was already told. Explaining this to Joyce was futile. These are not shoes I am ordering, this is medicine. These people hold too much power and seemed to take pleasure in wasting your day (over 3 hours for me in the span of 2 days!). They offered no solutions or transparency as to what they will do to you if you do not fork over the money at their convenience. Greed. Greed. Corporate greed!

So I called my doctor again, told them I am sorry. I hate my insurance company as they are all about money. You fork over money as soon as they get the 5 Rx's from your doctor or you get screwed. My complaint is: if I wasn't to CVS, I would not turn in the Rx as I do not need it. It would still be good for one year. I can't help when the doctor calls them in as she sees me according to mutual schedules. The person who called to get authorization in April to fill the Rx I do not need yet. However, the Express rep calling should have told me they were going to jerk me around and that this Rx is now officially "dead". This is not a pair of shoes I am ordering, it is medicine! Also, I had to call insurance and Express Script to get an authorization for 1 month's worth of the needed meds at CVS while Express Scripts surgically removed their head from their behind in order to fill the Rx they had back in April (which was not new and I have used for 2 years and gotten from them the last time).

Horrible, terrible abuse of consumers. I can't imagine an elderly person going through this. They would most likely pass on if it was a needed medication, then get a bill sent to the family afterwards. Express Scripts = Incompetent. Arbitrary time ** with no transparency and outright lies when they first signed you up. E.S. states their service is convenient, tells you that you call them and request medicines and they will call the doctor "and do the rest". No, they will not. That is only when you first sign up. I was told after that you are on your own as it is their policy! My God, what is this country coming too? Monopoly and no choice like this must be stopped!

I still have one original Rx at the Express Script pharmacy but they won't fill the Rx because the Rx is dated the same day as the Rx they filled even though my MD added "Comments: 2nd of 3 prescriptions" on the Rx filled and "Comments: 3rd of 3 prescriptions" on the Rx they refuse to fill.

One of the prescriptions was not filled because this medication was not covered under the plan. I know that it has never been covered and I would pay regular price for them through Express Scripts, where all my scripts were filled at and which I had done for almost three years now. Why didn't they look at the history? Now, the new rules are that I needed to print "Cash & Carry" on the back of the prescription. They were to send the prescription back to me.

After two to three weeks of not receiving the prescription back, I called them again. Apparently, they still had the original script and had not sent it back. They would send the script back after 24-48 hours and then it would take up to ten days to get it back--only to print "Cash & Carry" and I need to return it back to them! Something has happened to this company in the last six to eight months. They have no clue of what they have and what to do!

I used to like this company, not anymore. I am advising my company not to renew the contract with Express Scripts. They have no control of what everyone is doing. I think that some people make up their own rules. "Cash & Carry?" Where did this come from? I never received any letter about the changes in procedures or rules. From time of sending the original script in and from the time that I should receive it back, it will probably be three months--that's crazy!

In the past two months, I have had four problems. I was instructed to use the computer page about medication costs, which I did. I sent a check for the amount indicated on the computer. When I was billed an additional amount, I was told that the prices did not reflect my particular coverage. I even sent them a copy of the information that was listed on the computer. The copy didn't matter, the cost did not reflect my particular plan. However, the only way I could get the prices was to use information regarding my particular plan.

In the next case, I called and made arrangements regarding three medications. I was told by the representative that I could be billed for the medications once they were shipped. Yesterday, I received a call stating that my medications would not be shipped until they were paid in full.

Thirdly, on 8/17, Medco received my scripts with money to cover them. I kept getting replies (at least every other day) that said, "Your medications are promptly being processed and we want to ensure that you get your medications in a timely manner. We are here to serve you." The medications were not shipped until 8/31. That just doesn't seem timely to me.

Lastly, but probably most importantly, I had a severe reaction to a medication, and I cannot take it. I have contacted Medco three times to tell them to remove this medication from my available medications to be filled. I have received five notifications that I need to have the medication filled in the usual three-month plan.

I've filed with the credit card company for a charge back, and I will see what happens. I still need my drugs. Only one put me in the gap, according to them. I would accept the other three, and the other one, I can get on the Internet cheaper anyway. I want to know why Medicare is going broke. It's people like these sticking it to everyone.

This time they told me that it is because I am being penalized for not going through mail order. This whole process took more than 2 months. If they had told me this earlier I would have done a mail order. But instead of apologizing they talked to me rudely saying that such rules are written in the packet provided to you at the beginning of the year. Even though it may be written somewhere, when I make a phone call to inquire they should not be providing me with misleading answers and on top of that being rude. If it is a penalty charge, there should be some way of notifying the consumer that they are being penalized instead of just getting hit by the penalty, not knowing about it, and then being misled by customer service.

Walgreens has Watson and will not order IVAX, CVS has Watson and will not order for me, Publix has Watson and no IVAX. I was on the phone and called just about all of the pharmacies and all they have is Watson.

Watson has already put one company out of business. They are selling so all the pharmacies are buying their medicine and after they put them all out, they will be able to charge whatever they want. This is called a monopoly and is illegal. Plus their stock is soaring.

I then requested to talk to a pharmacist. I was told, only if I have problem with taking my meds. This is very ridiculous. I saw a lot of same medications with dosage difference piled up in the med room at the nursing homes. I now understand what the problem is. How can we stop Medco from ripping off patients, especially the elderly? Please, somebody help!

I called back on Wednesday, only to be told that there was no guarantee that I would get the meds by Sunday and I should have called sooner! Only after I asked for a supervisor was I told they would make an exception and get the meds to me by Saturday. Saturday rolled by and no meds. When I called my local pharmacy, they could not fill the prescription since they needed the prescription my MD sent to Medco. When I called Medco today (Tuesday, on my trip with no meds), they advised that they canceled my order since my MD did not get pre-authorization.

Now, he needs to call and get pre-authorization and resend a prescription to them? Despite the fact that this is a refill for a medication I have been taking for over 5 years; that it could have serious medical consequences to stop taking it; that 3 prior Medco employees told me there were no issues. When calling tonight, Medco blamed me for not knowing that it needed a "pre-authorization", that my MD would need to start the process all over again and that they would not expedite the order/authorization.

How am I suppose to know the process when Medco's own employees did not know? How is it okay to deny a patient here needed meds (based on an established history and MD prescription) and allow the patient to suffer from drug withdrawal symptoms/reactions with no concern for penalties to the company? Medco would not accept any responsibility for the errors made or provide any options to resolve/expedite the issue.

I explained to them that I had been referred to a specialist and that until my condition was under control, my dosage would be changing constantly, and therefore, I couldn't use the prescription that they were sending. They still refused to allow me to return the medication and credit my account. After several weeks, the medication did not arrive. After several calls, I finally convinced someone to credit my account, and I made it clear that I didn't want any prescriptions sent by mail, unless I authorized the order in writing.

Today, I received an email from Express Scripts telling me that they received my order. I called them 10 minutes after receiving the notice, and I was told that the medication had already been shipped. I told them that I had not ordered anything. After waiting on hold for several minutes, I was told that they had sent the medication by mistake. I then waited on hold for several more minutes to get approval from a supervisor to issue of a return label.

Medco reduced the 90-day supply ordered by my doctor from 3 vials to 2 vials, which I received on 9/15/11. After speaking with Medco CSR, Wendy, and escalating my complaint/inquiry about the reduction from 3 to 2 vials to Medco pharmacist, Y **, it was apparent to me that Mr. ** had no idea what was involved in treating diabetes with an insulin pump. Since he seemed unable or unwilling to reverse the decision, I asked him to have the Medco decision to reduce my 90-day supply reviewed. I also sent an e-mail on 9/15 to a Medco Diabetes Specialist" describing my complaint.

It is now 9/17 and other than a "canned" acknowledgment of my e-mail, I haven't heard a peep from Medco. Based on prior problems with Medco, I am not optimistic about receiving a favorable outcome. Having retired from Customer Service for a major insurance company, I find their behavior unacceptable, irresponsible, self-serving, and dangerous to the health of anyone who must use them.

I discontinued permission for Express Scripts to place charges on my credit card. Express Scripts then sent the prescriptions back to me. In the end, I spoke to Mr. **, a supervisor. I told him that I would not be using Express Scripts any longer, cancelled all remaining refills, and expressed my dissatisfaction in the entire situation. He said that it was my error because I enrolled in the auto-refill program so my money would not be refunded. There was nothing else he could do for me, other than offer me a 'house credit' (for much less than $150) that could be applied to future prescriptions. I told him that was not acceptable as I don't want to order more from them or continue a relationship with a company that I did not trust.

I called my doctor who tried faxing and explaining what the situation was. In fact, even his nurse tried helping but to no avail. Here's my complaint or question as it were- Don't these prescription companies have some sort of cross reference system in place to ensure this sort of thing doesn't happen on a regular basis? Or does this happen all the time and no one complains about it because they are at the mercy of Medco?

Here's the best part to me anyway -- I was saving Medco money (in theory) by splitting pills, which made my scripts last two months instead of one. I am a conscious consumer. Today, I pick up my ** at a cost of $118 instead of the $24 Co-pay that my insurance entitles me to. All I can hope for is that they approve it, see the error of their ways and I get reimbursed for the difference.

Why can't these companies be held to a different and sensible standard that is ethical and puts the patient first? Is that really that much of a pie in the sky idea?

The latest incident is that once again the medication I need every month is being withheld from me. One of my medicines is a breathing medication that I've been out of for a month and Medco is giving me every excuse on why they didn't send it. My doctor prescribed this medication and without it I can't breathe. They're playing with my life! One of the reasons I was told was that my debit card number was incorrect. They use the same card every month. Also, the pharmacist said they they're withholding my ** and a stomach medication, both of which I have been taking simultaneously for years. They're saying that they're worried about the effect of mixing those two medications. How dare they withhold medication, out of the blue, which I need every month and which my doctor prescribed?

They're playing with my health and they have no right to do that. Every single month is one thing after another, and don't even get me started on how they always say that I owe money on my account and they never just send my medication when I need it because they're always saying I owe this and that amount. It never ends with these people.

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!

They then gave me a number for my PCP to call and request the prior authorization. I contacted my PCP and they are stating that they do not call and give prior authorization and that everything must be faxed. Meanwhile, my son is running out of medication. My question is who are they to decide what is the best medication for my son? If they are going to deny my son benefits, then what am I paying for?

1) I tried to refill a prescription at my local pharmacy. It had many refills left and I'd filled it before with no problems. Medco denied it. They told the pharmacy something about the FDA approved guidelines had changed and they could only approve so many pills in a given period. They sent me a letter explaining why also. My doctor tried to call them and work out the issue.

2) In the meantime, I went to my Oncologist and had him try to refill the prescription at another pharmacy and it went through fine.

3) My regular doctor, somehow in working with Medco to get my prescription filled at my local pharmacy, sent Medco a prescription to be filled by them, according to Medco.

4) I received this prescription in the mail on 9-6-2011. This was 11 days after Medco approved the refill I got from my Oncologist, on 8-26-2011.

5) This is a complete scam. Are you kidding me? They won't approve a refill and then they approve 2 different ones that I end up having to pay 4 co-pay amounts for. The one from them, being the issue.

6) Dealing with them on the phone was a total waste of time. I talked to a customer service representative, a manager and a pharmacist. I have to pay them or they will hold up any other prescriptions I need.

Finally, I called on 9/6/11 and was told it was NY state law that a diagnosis should be on the receipt. It is not our law. They lied. It’s their law and no, they did not contact my doctor, as they told me. I had to take today off from work and go to my doctor to get another script of **, temporarily since you cannot abruptly stop pain meds because of seizure. Then I had the doctor fax over my diagnosis.

I work as a heavy equipment operator and I am in severe pain but I am the only bread winner in the family. I do not abuse my meds but Express Scripts last filled my three month script in May, sometime around the 17th, and it is way over 3 months. They will not allow you to fill it a drugstore here because you’re only allowed to have 100 a month.

I would like to deal with my corner drugstore and fill my 6 pills a day and not have to get 540 pills every time they feel like sending them out. It’s not a good thing having all those pills here and it’s not fair, the way you get treated.

Please, please, please. Something must be done about Express Scripts for their contemptible behavior and for causing my husband enough stress to cause a traumatic life threatening incident.

On August 8, my previous doctor's office called and told me they received a request for additional refills from Medco and that I needed to see the doctor first. Medco sent this request after I removed my account; after I told them they were no longer authorized to act on my behalf. When I called on the phone, I told them I wanted a refund, they refused. It is my contention that they send unprescribed medication (prescription expired) to me and charge me for it. Then attempted to cover it up by obtaining a new prescription. Unethical, abuse of trust.

This can depend on the contract your employer has with Medco. In our case, it is Intel's contract that allows Medco to do this to its employees, which is a cost-cutting "non" benefit on the part of Intel. You may find this data in FAQ, or have gotten an obscure "warning" of it sometime back the distant past. But most people who are switching to high deductible HSAs are not aware of this Medco practice. If you take this into consideration, this could add up to several hundred dollars or more of extra prescription expense for you if you use an HSA. Why not just bail on Medco and go to Costco? There, you can get your medications cheaper and still have some control instead of being strong armed into using the Medco mail order program. Vote with your feet. If everyone did, Medco would not be doing so well. Complain to your company benefit department if you are unhappy with Medco. More people need to speak up about this corrupt company and their own employer's relationship with it.

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 contacted Jason ** on August 3, 2010 at 10:37 a.m. and he assured me after speaking to his supervisor that it was taken care of and I would not not receive further bills. This settled the issue, or so I thought, as no more bills were received from Express Scripts in September, October, November, or December 2010.

Then I began to receive notices in February through July 2011 informing me of a "NextRX transfer balance debit" of $312.10. The transfer date was January 13, 2011 (presumably for the drug mailed in December 2009 that was never received). The last bill from Express Scripts was dated 8/2/11 concerning the NextRX Transfer Balance Debit of $312.10 of 1/13/2011. This was followed by a telephone call informing me that my account would be turned over to a collections agency if I did not pay. I should emphasize that neither NextRX nor Express Scripts was the drug provider in 2011 (CatalystRX is).

I checked with my doctor's office and they have NEVER gotten a call from Express Scripts. Then you have to call back and ask for a supervisor. They then say the same thing. It usually takes at least 3 weeks to get a prescription, so I have to get an emergency refill at a local pharmacy. This company has let me run out of insulin 3 times! I am not the only one who seems to be blacklisted by Express Scripts. There are thousands of complaints by consumers about this company! A federal investigation needs to be ran on how they conduct business.

I called to check the delivery status on August 22nd and was told that it was being held due to a past due balance. When I told them that the past due balance was paid four years ago, they said that they had no record of receiving payment from the collection agency and that I would have to provide proof of payment; we went through this same debate three years ago. I told them that they needed to contact the collection agency to resolve the issue. Again, I was told that it was my responsibility to prove to them that I paid the debt.

Since the debt was paid, I have not received any bills from the collection agency and have been able to fill this same prescription at the local pharmacy without issue, so it would appear that they agree that the debt has been paid. At this point, the person I was speaking with at Express Scripts hung up on me.

I called Express Scripts and they told me that there is nothing they can do. They will not contact a customer before charging their credit card unless the prescription is over $500. I cannot think of any other company that will charge you for a product without telling you up front how much it is, an estimate, or a confirmation. They will not return the medicine. To top it off, it's the wrong medication. The doctor didn't prescribe the right medication. I was told by Express Scripts to take this up with my doctor. So, the doctor owes me $100? Basically, if I had known that the medication was going to cost me $100, I would have told them no. I never got this opportunity.

I've been getting this drug for over 8 years, 4 of them has been with Express, and has been the biggest nightmare ever! They told me the process has changed, and now, the script gets mailed from my doctor's office to Express in AZ. Then, it gets mailed to St. Louis to be processed. The laws in MO are different than the laws in CT where I live, so they need extra information, information that's not needed in my state or AZ.

They tell you one thing one day, and then when you call again, it's a different story. I have sent many, many, many, emails through their "Contact Us" link and many calls too, telling them about my problems, but no one seems to care. I then started sending messages of how bad their company is and how they make their customers worse off with their lies and ignorance.

I guess that pissed them off because now, I have a "special team" to handle my complaints/questions. Plus they deliberately erased my doctor's information when I need to have a new script written out for an expired refill. I have to call express and tell them my doctor's information so they can fax them a form to fill out and fax back. (on non-narcotic meds) I was told no less than 8 times that they will fix the problem so I would not have to go thru all of this again. Guess what? It never got done!

Last month, they let me run out of blood pressure medicine. In the last year, they have lost four of my prescription orders. They never say lost, though. "We have no records of receiving your prescriptions." When I hear that, my blood boils. I think Express Scripts will eventually give me a heart attack. I panic when I run out of insulin because in just a day or two, I could die.

Over a period of six weeks, we have been requesting a renewal of our prescriptions both from the doctor's office and Express Scripts. Each follow-up with Express Scripts claimed the doctor had not responded. Each follow-up with the doctor said either no request was received or they had faxed the request to Express Scripts. Week seven and we are out of medication.

I had to change to Medco for my meds and now, instead of having to pay $50 for 1 month, I have to come up with $125 for 3 months. This small savings is not worth the hassle.

This timely response would be appreciated but I did not order the medication because I switched to a different medication and don't use this particular type any longer. This sounds like the doctor's office made a mistake but in the past, Express Scripts never filled an order for me unless I requested it filled because remember, I must prepay for everything before it is sent to me. Now they say that when the doctor's office sends a prescription, it is filled immediately and that is how it has always been done.

I usually don't complain and never online, but Express Scripts is the worst pharmacy to deal with that I have ever encountered and my heart sinks with every complaint I see like mine. They won't fix the problem because they are in bed with my insurance company who I have filed my complaints about Express Scripts with and nothing gets fixed.

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.

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.

When they call, they will give you some numbers of the medicine they are referring to. If you take a lot of pills, have fun figuring it out. You might want to check your history online a lot as they like getting rid of your medicine without telling you they don't have it anymore or you're going to pay a fortune for it from now on. If you have a medicine company helping you pay for any of your medicine, forget it. They are still going to bill you and never straighten it out. You will need to pay for it so you might as well get a second job. Make sure your doctor gives you a script for blood pressure pills as you will need them. I've been on hold for over half an hour.

I'm forced to use them. I have some shots flown here once a month. It used to be every three months. What an expense to put them on a plane and send them overnight and be here in the morning. I can never get answers to anything that has common sense so I quit trying. And last of all, you will find you can't get into your account online, every now and then. You never know when so be prepared to call them. Thank you.

I subsequently called Medco on 07/28/11 and spoke to a representative (I wish I had written her name down) who told me that all I had to do was get the doctor to write the prescriptions and fax them in. I had not addressed this issue earlier for two reasons: One, was I had expected to immediately transition into employment after graduating on 07/31/11, and second, is I was actually only low on 1 of my 5 medications.

Unfortunately, I take a control 2 medication in which you have to have the actual paper prescription; a fax or phone call is insufficient. Therefore, I needed to overnight the paper prescription to Medco so that they would receive it before 07/31/11. I asked the Medco representative what the procedure would be and she stated that I would need to submit the prescription with my address, my billing information, my member number, my name, my date of birth, my phone number, my doctor's name, and my doctor's phone number. She stated that I needed to submit this to Medco Health Solutions of Dallas, PO Box 650322, Dallas, TX 75265-0322.

I even repeated this information back to her for verification. I sent it overnight and it was received on 07/30/11 at 11:22AM.

I have no medication now and can’t go back to work because of Medco not sending my medication overnight. I am on the East Coast and my medication went from Vegas to California. They will not even call my doctor to get me a small supply to hold me over until next week. So if I get fired from my job I guess I will sue Medco.

Then Aug. 2nd my doctor had a script, since a friend received her script and was able to provide me an approximate 5-day supply. When talking to this Kristen, manager at Medco, I was advised that order would take 9-12 days to begin process. I advised that this was a medical need and required the order to be shipped ASAP. She just kept stating "policy" and said she would refer to a pharmacist. I have still not heard from them.

Also a few months ago, an order for LANTUS was continuously declined for shipment. The Bill was $111.xx and as per an agreement with First Data Tech. Inc., Medco was required to collect any funds exceeding $100.00. However, over 5 emergency shipments were placed by representatives and supervisors; None could state why shipment was not shipped. This continued until a nurse from our Health Advocates line called Medco and forced shipment in 2 parts so bill could be split. At the time, I was already under leave for uncontrolled Diabetes which had taken my right eye and increased my light sensitivity. This setback required an additional 5 weeks to restabilize my health and diabetic numbers since I was out of medication for over 1 week. This also caused several mini comas and collapses as numbers declined under 25 even with nurse on phone.

The other time I was declined a shipment of LANTUS was when my doctor had ordered medicines, needle that was to be 1/2in 31 qa. Instead of contacting me or my doctor, a week went by until I had to call and was informed that representative had stated that they had this gauge in error and a new order was to be faxed. Again, placing my health in severe jeopardy and causing additional loss of time at work. This time, I have lost 2 days. Last time, 20 weeks and still under doctor's care and restricted hours.

Being a controlled substance, my doctor does not write it until I am at the end of my script. Then the script is sent in for processing. All controlled substance are then sent out to another state for processing. I believe it is in Idaho. This state requires a diagnosis which is not required in California. That took a couple extra weeks, the first time. I then was told to have my doctor write refills on my script. I didn't think he would do it, but he agreed. Obviously my doctor doesn't think I am abusing my script. This information was bogus at this time when I called to refill my script. They said, “Well you can't get refills on a controlled substance”. I had a 15-minute debate the first time they told me to do this but was assured it was okay!

I sent in one script that was missing a date. I was never contacted by Express scripts. When I contacted them they said that I need it dated. I told them I would contact the doctor’s office. The customer service representative told me that if they didn't contact her in 24 hours then they would send it back. I said to please don't do that and I will have them call.

I don't, however, control the office’s response. I also asked if they had any legal reason that they must send it back! Needless to say she returned it. Although the post mark was two weeks later, Express Script say I can fill my script locally and pay the upcharge, which I guess I will have to do.

Why do I have insurance coverage that I can't use because they refuse to act diligently? Every time I talk to them they tell you different policies that contradict each other. When you question this, they become aggressive. They have very poor service. The result of their inept service leaves me in extreme pain and unable to function whatsoever. Truly unconscionable!

Express Scripts said they had attempted to contact my doctor to get another signature, but they said they had not received a reply. My doctor, however, says he signed the scripts and faxed them in again. Evidently, Express Scripts filled one of the scripts and put it in the mail to me, but they did not fill the other one. I still today (July 28) have not received either prescription! This medicine is critical to my well-being; it is not optional. I suffer from pulmonary ailments and must have this medicine to breathe. I'm still steaming about the fact that Express Scripts set aside these scripts, decided not to fill them, and yet no one informed me that the drugs would not be coming in the mail as usual. Since the meds didn't come in, I had to get the doctor to call them in to a local drug store and I had to get out in 100-degree heat today to go and pick them up. And I should not be out in that heat.

I am a transa transplant patient. These people stress me out so much. They will tell you one thing, call back and it will be another. I'm afraid of not getting my medicines on time. This is the worst pharmacy I have ever dealt with. They said they mailed my meds, got it three or more weeks later.

One lady told me not to rely on them when I know I need my meds right away. I had to remind her that I was waiting for my meds for at least a month. I don't trust their work ethics and that's scary. They billed my card without telling me after the meds didn't show up because they had to send it again.

Please note that, on my calls to Express Scripts on the 13th and 14th of July, I was told that I did not owe anything to them. And then today, the 23rd of July, I checked online and found that Express Scripts had levied a $15.00 insufficient funds fee against my account on July 21st. Now on the 13th and 14th of July, Express Scripts said that my account was paid in full. Had they said any different, I would have paid the balance by check card, but due to a lack of knowledge of your employees, I now have a NSF fee from you.

What is going on? I have already been told that the billing department is in St Louis and it could take up to five days for the information to get from St Louis to Tempe. Is this what computers do, make things slower?

and expedite.

I explained the non receipt and why the order was not expedited. He said that they had to contact the doctor to issue new RX and the order would be shipped to receive in the next 48 hrs and I was rebilled $56.00

I objected to the rebill and he said that this is the policy and after 30 days if I still havent received the origional order I can request a refund for the first shipment. I and still waiting for the rx and express scripts has lied and there is problems within

On Monday July 11 I finally spoke to a supervisor who told me that the five other prescriptions were placed on hold. He released them and said they would be shipped in the next 24-48 hours. They weren't. I have spoken to supervisors every day and they say it has been expedited. The most puzzling thing is that the supervisors are not permitted to call the pharmacy to find out the status.

Saturday (7/9/11) I called CVS to get a refill. They called me the next day and said it hadn't been approved. I didn't have a chance to call Medco Monday because I'm refinancing my home and was tied up with closing Monday. I called Medco Tuesday (7/12/11). The lady took my doctor's number and said she would call the doctor's office. I said I would call Medco back on Wednesday (7/13/11) to make sure before calling CVS to get my refill. I called today (7/13/11) and it still isn't approved. The lady told me to call the doctor's office. I just called my doctor's office and now I'm sitting here waiting. I'm sick and tired of being jerked around by Medco. I took my last Aciphex this morning and have none to take tomorrow.

A year later, I was contacted by a debt collector asking for the $20. I paid the debt collection company the $20 and a late fee. I quickly called Express Scripts to find out why my credit card was not charged and why I was never notified of the outstanding balance. I was on the phone for 35 minutes. They transferred me three times and many of the individuals I talked to were very unsympathetic and were unable to explain the situation to me. I understand it is just $20, but they handled the situation very unprofessionally. I will no longer deal with Express Scripts and will be filing a formal complaint through my workplace and insurance company.

I was already without medications for couple of days (I take this medications for long time and my blood pressure goes sky up without them). I couldn't wait any longer. The express script sent me the same order again. I got the 3- month supply of medications. I received it and paid for it. After a while, I saw the same unpaid balance on my account.

I called the express script and explain them that I already paid for the order. They told me that they sent me the same order second time. I never received the second order. I called to express script couple of times and I sent them couple of emails explaining that I received only 1 order (I get 3 months supply in each order, why will I get 2 orders in the same time). They keep telling me that they sent me medications twice. I have hard time explaining them that I never received the 2 order. I never asked for second order.

I have proof that I paid this balance once. I filed a complaint with BBB. They told BBB that they will resolve the issue, but they never did. Now, almost 1 year past, I still get statements. Recently, I got statement for $139.79, couple days after I got statement for $239.79. I called to express scripts and one representative told me that my balance is 0, then the other said that is $139.79.

I explained to them it was in the mail but I was told that the check had to clear before they would send out medication. I won't give them my credit card as they'll capture the information and repeatedly bill the credit card, even though you don't authorize it. I went from the worker to the supervisor to senior supervisor. I was on the phone for one hour and finally, after a lengthy diatribe, the supervisor credited my account for $15.00 after I threatened to transfer my prescription to a local pharmacy.

If I go to a local pharmacy, my co-pay is $360.00 a year as opposed to $100.00 a year through Express Scripts. I never had this issue with Express Scripts before and wonder why they feel so entitled to withhold medication willy-nilly without any notice of their intentions. The senior supervisor took care of the situation with a credit; but she behaved like she was doing me a big favor.

I noticed that from time to time over my ten years of doing business with Express Scripts, they come up with some kind of business rule without telling their consumers. They say it's just business; but, I think they need to look at the type of business they're in. They are not a bank. They are dispensing medication, and playing with people's lives with these silly rules they seem to arbitrarily put into place.

My doctor changed my sleep aid from ** to **. We have been in a circle of lies with Medco Health Solutions for the past six weeks regarding coverage and administration of this drug. We have two case IDs, neither of which is acceptable to my pharmacy. The doctor was given a letter approving eligibility. The pharmacy could not fill it. I called again and was told that this is a two part prior authorization. The doctor has been waiting for the last week for another form. In the meantime, I was told that a temporary approval for 5 pills would be sent to my pharmacy. They didn't get it.

Where is open disclosure between the doctor, the pharmacy, the insurer and the patient? I have obtained two prescriptions from my doctor because the pharmacy said the first one expired. If I want to forget the ** and go back on the **, I would have to drive over to my doctor again for another prescription. Four entities: the doctor, the insurer, the pharmacy and the patient; Is it too much to ask that they all be on the same page at the same time?

I ordered a prescription for insulin. It sat there for 2 weeks. I checked on it when I realized I was running really low. They told me I had to pay for it before they would ship it out. I go online and there is no way to see how much it costs and no way to pay for it. So I call them. Now I have to pay $15 for a rush shipping and $200 for the meds. Fine. The next day I look on my bank account and I see 2 pending charges for $200 each. One from Medco Columbus, one from Medco Las Vegas. I call back. No one can tell me why or how I have two charges. They don't show 2 charges so they can't tell me if it was charged by mistake and refunded or if I really am just paying twice. Their solution is to set up a credit card and let them automatically charge it with whatever medicines they are going to send to me. The problem with that is that they have randomly decided to send me medicines in the past. I have to pay for them and I can't return them if I don't need them!

They constantly hold my medicine hostage. I can't go to another pharmacy to get it. I am seriously considering to just stop taking my medicine because it's so difficult to get it. Then I'll go into the hospital and have them give me medicine. Seriously, it would be easier. And they wouldn't care at all because then, my Blue Cross would have to pay for the hospitalization and not Medco.

She informed me that she has the log for placing an order but would call again on June 2, 2011, to request the refill again. June 6, 2011, I still had not received my refill and I phoned Express Scripts again. I did not write the customer service person’s name down, but she was very rude and outright lied! This person should be fired! I was informed yet again that no order was placed and that Express Scripts "supposedly" left a voicemail message for my doctor, but never received a call back. I was informed by Lisa this morning that my doctor does not have voicemail!

** is prescribed to me for ulcerative colitis. Without this medication I will bleed and more than likely end up hospitalized. This condition can be life threatening. I do not appreciate the business ethics of Express Scripts and would like some sort of action taken against them for playing god with my life!

Before having a prescription filled by mail or at a retail pharmacy, call your drug plan and see if the medication is covered and also get a copay(what you have to pay after insurance). Also find out if the medication is formulary/non-formulary. That makes a difference in the cost.

If you are told that the medication requires a Prior Authorization or pre-approval, find out more about the procedure to get that. Do you have to try other medications before the plan will pay for it. If you do need to try other medications first, find out how many(more often than not it will be 2 but sometimes 1). If that's the case, see if you can have your DR give you samples for a few weeks and then while taking samples have the DR write a prescription for 1 of the meds that the plan says you have to take. That way, it will be in your claim history and documented that you have tried the drug. That will allow you to have the Dr say you tried the med and it did not work. Problem solved and you get the medication you really want or works for you. Some medications have a higher copay that others (non-formulary/not preferred by the plan), when that happens, ask if there is an override or PA to lower the cost of the medication. They wont tell you that the option is available.

If you are told that your plan does not cover a medication and there is nothing that can be done. That is information that those people are told to say. Call your employer/HR dept and complain, complain, complain because they actually decide on the type of plan and what meds are covered. Take it as high as you have too. They may try to refer you back to your drug benefit manager, but that won't change anything.

Making the most of your benefits with these high copays can be tricky. Say for instance you take a brand name medication and your copay is 90.00. If you take a strength of 40mg, see if it's possible to split the medication in half. If so, have the Dr write a rx for double the strength and cut the pills in half. You then have twice the supply of medication for possibly the same copay.

Your copay may be 10.00 for a generic drug at a retail pharmacy using your drug plan, find out at say a WalMart if they have the medication on their drug plan where they offer the medication for a lower copay amount. You may be able to get the same medication at a lower cost without using your benefits. You are not required to use them. (That may not benefit someone with a high deductible plan because it would not go toward the deductible).

For the senior citizens or those with a Medicare D drug plan. (Hope no one was offended by the term)

Coverage Gap/Donut Hole sound familiar. Yes...

Getting to the donut hole is happening fairly quickly. It's not just based on what you pay as a copay, but also what your plan pays a well. So your copay is 15.00 and the plan pays 100.00. All of that 115.00 counts toward helping you get there. Once you get there, you are required to pay 100% of the cost of the medication. Well, for a lot of brand name meds, not true. In 2011 you get a 50% discount on those brands now and by 2014, I think, there should no longer be a coverage gap/donut hole. Woohoo !

There are a lot of drugs under certain MEDICARE D plans that are not covered. If you challenge that, it's very possible to get the drug covered. Not guaranteed though. Especially if you have had the medication before and now it's not covered. Don't try this if you know that your plan has changed since the previous year. It really won't work. Last thing for all, read your plan info carefully, a lot of times we sign up for things and really are unaware of what it actually details to have it come back and bite you later. Be safe and happy prescription dealings!

On May 2nd, I called and spoke to a "supervisor". I explained what was happening and that we had not received these prescriptions. "Ann" explained that I could have a replacement prescription sent, upon physician’s approval, and my expense after 30 days. She said that if the original order had not been received, they would reverse it out of the system and credit my account. I spoke to "Teresa" today. Still, no replacement order has been sent out, due to the fact that they have not been able to contact the prescribing doctor to authorize the order. I have spoken to the physician and there have been no attempts to contact her. This is ridiculous! They are playing God with my husband's medications. Without these, he will have trips to the ER.

I laughed because they thought they could get one past me and correct the error and deny it ever happened, until they quickly found out I wasn't an idiot. I don't trust Medco because they have done numerous things to my husband, very similar to my experiences with them. I quit using them because they are so shady and don't conduct business in a professional way. The negative consequences could've been bad if I had trusted them. Luckily I'm computer savvy and they couldn't screw me over like they were going to try and do. Once they heard the words "screen shot", they didn't even put me on hold before the supervisor got on the phone and told me I would be getting my refund immediately. It's a dog eat dog world out there and don't trust Medco.

I was informed during this call that the Rx's I mailed on April 6 were received on April 19, and were being processed. I live in Scranton, and the RX's were sent to Bethlehem PA, less than 100 miles away. I did receive a call back from a supervisor who informed me that I needed to straighten this out with my health insurance because, for some reason, the address I had been using for a year was now no longer valid. Ironically, they still bill me at this address, and the bills come just fine.

I lost 1 refill (3-month supply). My medication for heart/blood pressure, was delayed. I had to deal with them five separate times for something that should have taken one call. The person, who was contacted about refunding me the used refill, was quite abrupt and bordering on being rude.

When I contacted them, at first, they asked how come I hadn't called. I said, "I sent you a secure online message and received a response, why would I call?" I was told, "Well, sir, I'm going to take your word for the fact that you contacted us." I replied, "You don't have to take my word. I have the email right here." I was advised, "Oh, well, in that case, it doesn't matter. We will fill Rx's as they are sent in by the doctor." I said, "So, it doesn't matter that I told you not to fill those Rx's?" The reply was, "Sir, the Rx's were filled as ordered by your doctor. We did our part."

I have had multiple problems with Medco. They say that they are contacting my doctor(s) but the doctor never gets the request--or I get the Rx and then a message saying that it can't be filled. Medco has serious customer care issues.

After reviewing my on-line account, I immediately called and I was reassured, probably by someone located in India named Peggy, that this was not the case. After all her computer screen only reflected the amount of the prescriptions. Well, lo and behold, my monthly bill comes and there is the extra charge. Now, I call MEDCO yet no one can figure out how to resolve this. They never contact me, and feel the need to research this further even though it is all reflected on one billing cycle (January paid, February billed).

Since MEDCO did not itemize the deductible from the prescriptions, my credit card company cannot put the amount in dispute. So now, I have to pay again. We have been in contact with MEDCO, yet they cannot seem to figure out how to credit my account. They sure knew that I needed a deductible before sending me the medication in the first place, yet they fail to track that it has been paid, and paid again. I cannot afford a monthly $250 charge, let alone the doubling of my prescription co pays but that is yet another discussion.

My only saving grace is that I know for a fact that I am not the only one that this has happened to. Right now, we are still battling this, but ultimately if we all register a complaint maybe we could level this monopoly of bureaucratic idiocy!

On March 18, I received an e-mail thanking me for my mail order prescription. Since I had not initiated any mail order prescriptions with Medco, I logged into my account on their website and found that the person that had called me on March 16 took the liberty to switch three of my generic medications from retail to their mail order program without my permission! I called Medco to contest this, and one medication has already been shipped, and my doctor has been contacted to provide new prescriptions for the other two. I was told that they couldn't be stopped from being processed so I have no choice but to accept the shipments from their mail order pharmacy.

It is a real shame when a person is forced into switching to a different pharmacy and method of delivery against her will. These companies don't think twice about stomping all over people, and I'll never answer another phone call from Medco again. It would be nice if we, little people, had more power to fight back against these giant companies whose only interest is their bottom line. Less of my medicines than I get at my retail pharmacy, and a great deal of aggravation because I have to be without my medicines until they arrive by mail. That is one reason why I didn't want to switch to mail order.

I called the doctor's office and explained about the date, and the nurse told me that as soon as they got the form, it would be corrected and sent to the company again. Here is where the journey really begins. Medco states that the doctor did not fax again to them and the doctor's office stated Medco never had any contact with the office. This is how the story continued and yet my mother was without diapers, bed pads and wipes. We purchased them out of our pocket, even though she is on a program called CBA that provided these items.

Medco continued to blame the doctor. The doctor even did a house call so he could put on the form. He saw my mother and examined her for the products to continue. Still, Medco stated that the form was not signed properly, dated correctly, or a square was not checked, yet the forms or the correction was not sent back to the doctor. Today, March 8, 2011, I called Medco back, and this time, the reason was that the doctor failed to check a square. This time, I was informed that they do not fax back to the doctor and they would mail it to me and I could take it to the doctor myself and have a square checked and fax it to Medco.

This has been going on since October 2010. They have very poor customer service and employee who do not care what their actions are for the patient. They absolutely should be monitored since they are dealing with patients and health concern. They have total unconcern for patient or family, trying to care for patients when this is their business. They continued to blame the doctor rather than fix the solution. Still, they have not fixed the problem, and yet they are the provider chosen by the Home Health Care agency, and the agency says we have to go through Medco. We are trapped by this situation and have no way to resolve it without help.

Time after time, I am spending time with these incompetents. Had to then fill out a form and fax in, then wait for reimbursement from Spending Account. When is someone going to crack down on these people and put them out of business? They outsource American jobs, and I am sick of this happening to our country. One woman stated her husband died because he did not receive his prescription.

They would not send me two pumps to make it 3 months, since two pumps would in fact be four months and that is not covered under my policy. They then charged me $100 for a two-month prescription rather than giving me the 3 months for $100. They won't give me my money back. I'd like to return the prescription. Since they could not fill the prescription the way the physician wrote it (for 3 months). To make matters worse, I was told by Gene **, a supervisor at their customer help line that if I filled it at my local pharmacy it would have only been $25 for the month. They should have called and given me the option not to fill the prescription. They were not able to fill the prescription as per the doctor's orders.

They had a duty to call me. There's a packet distribution which they can count packets to give me a 90-day supply. They make such a fuss about how mail order is supposed to save you money. What a crock of **. When I receive prescriptions which aren't for generics or for non-preferred brands, they make it a point to call and pester me to switch, and try to second guess the reason the physician prescribed the medicine in the first place. They're very greedy **. Always what's in their best interest never the patient.

I called the Medco representative and she gave me the price for 3 separate medications for 90 days and 1 that they do not carry so she couldn't give me a price for that one. Prices sounded good so I said "What do I do next? " I was told to fill out paper work and send in original script. I only got 1 script for 90 days.

Here is the kicker! The 2nd medication I got was for 45 days but I was charged for 90 days. Then the last medication but yes it was the Least, (they actually gave me a break) they charged me for 45 days (instead of 90) but only gave me 13 days(pills). When I called about the lack of medicines, they said that is what my policy says to do. "We are sorry they didn't tell you that when you got the quote for 90 days. You can get the remainder of the medicines if your doctor fills out an extra form but it will cost you another $200." Yee Haa! What a great money maker. Charged the customer 2 times for the 1 thing they ordered. Oh yeah, they said my only option is to write a Letter of Appeal to United Healthcare.

I get a supervisor explained that it is important that I get these items in no more than two days, because I was running low. I was told that they can't make any promises (okay) but that I should expect the items in one to two days, but it is up to the pharmacy (I thought that was them). I have not run through the entire nightmare in this complaint but there were many more calls to the company, and several times, I was "disconnected" while waiting for a supervisor. Is there any chance of a class action? This company seems horrible. Any lawyers out there who would like a testimony, I would be happy to offer my experience.

- Refuse to send a written response to the concerned who filed thru the website.

I have been taking this medication for 12 years and never faced this frustration. I am not sure but I think they supplied me a recalled medication because my doctor was saying my BP was high. My BP was in control for the last 10 years with same medication and I’ve not change in lifestyle.

I would report the shortages via messaging on their Web site and I would sometimes get no response. Sometimes, I would write again or sometimes I would give up. It happened so often that I pressed it sometimes. With the darvocet, it did happen too often that they must have an in-house problem with stealing one pill here and there of narcotic pain pills. So, I kept insisting that they replace the one or two pills that they shorted my order. One time, they insisted that my doctor provide a new prescription for the missing pills.

If I'm a drug addict, I doubt if I would be insisting on one pill, or even the very mild darvocet. One pill isn't going to make a difference for me--except for the fact that it was owed to me. I paid for it, and they made a mistake that needed to be corrected. If my payment to them was short just a little, would they let it slide? Many times, I have been shorted various pills (I take five different Rx drugs). Generally, they refuse to supply the missing pills. Ironically, only one time has the error been in my favor--you would think statistically that when errors can occur, that it could be over once in a while. Nope--only once, but I've been shorted over a dozen times.

I often ignore mistakes because it is such a headache to report it, which I'm sure is their intent. Now, when I report it via their secure Web site messaging (they refuse to use email), they refuse to do anything about it, insisting that I call their pharmacist. I have a legal Rx, I have paid for the drugs, yet they refuse to correct their mistake unless I talk to a pharmacist. I have serious health problem. I don't deal with stress well at all, and every time I've talked to them, they bring me to tears out of stress and frustration, so I refuse to call them.

They have said that their Web site isn't secure enough to use for that, yet it is secure enough to contain my complete drug history and credit card information. When I suggest letters via USPS, they say that it isn't secure enough. They don't know who might receive it, yet it is okay to send expensive drugs, and class three drugs. They won't let me qualify myself with a password on the phone, but email and their Web site requires that I use a password. These are just the most current problems.

I have also tried to find out information about the exact ingredients of the generic atenolol that they send to me. Over time, the generic drug they ship has changed. The pill itself is now sticky and rough feeling. It leaves a residue on my fingers when touched only briefly enough to get it into my mouth. Then, it starts to dissolve immediately before it can be quickly swallowed. Now, it leaves a bitter or awful taste in my mouth twice a day when I take this new version of the generic.

I did not recall when this lower quality generic started to be shipped (replacing another generic version of the same drug). I was seeing an allergist for some months, looking for a reason for a skin problem. Everything we knew of had been eliminated as a cause. Then, I recalled that perhaps around the time the skin problem started, I had started a new batch of atenolol, but I didn't know if that was the first time they provided that version of the generic. I asked Medco to tell me when they started supplying this version of the generic to me, and what the inactive ingredients of this pill are.

Both counts, they refused to give me any information, even though this information is easily linked for them. The drug is made by a pharmaceutical company in India--who knows where that company gets their components (unregulated China)? By the sticky feel of the pill, they either skip a step to make it smooth and hard, or the components are so different that they cannot make it smooth. The once tiny pill is now at least twice the size it was--so they have found some far cheaper inactive ingredient to carry the active ingredient.

I also take thyroid hormone (synthroid). The drug maker used to say on their Web site that it is a heat-sensitive drug--and if exposed to a temperature higher than ** for ** hours, then you should toss it and get a new supply. Yet, Medco makes no allowance for shipping that drug to me in the normal mail. I live in an area with extreme heat for at least six months of the year, so I have to order a 90-day supply of that drug at least twice during the hot months. I have tried every possible way of placing my order so it will not be in the mail over a weekend, but it often is.

I have asked them to only mail early in the week, but they refuse to make any allowances. When that drug is not effective, it can cause an irregular heart beat (for which I've been hospitalized five times). It causes hair to fall out, gain weight, and many more problems. My health is so fragile that any blips caused by my medications not being right can cause significant health problems for me, which in turn, can also result in significant medical treatment costs. I'm just so tired of trying to deal with them, and that is their intent.

They know most people will give up with complaints eventually if they keep resisting, keep saying no, and keep adding layers of "customer service" that you must wade through. That is easier and more cost effective for them. How much training does it take for an employee to answer a phone or a message with a non-resolution time after time? It takes no skills, no education, and little training.

I called Express Scripts to get my order back on track and they said that since I had transferred my prescription, it was their policy to refuse to take a prescription back. This is absolute nonsense and a total waste of my time. They take absolutely no responsibility for their actions, and their supervisors have no authority whatsoever to correct errors on the part of the company. Dealing with them is a complete nightmare (check around for other complaints, you will see that they have a history of abusing their customers).

My daughter has been out of medicine for over a week now, and these morons can't or won't seem to get things right. Four different delivery dates, 20 different representatives, now they're trying to say this was our problem. Cancellations of prescriptions for no reason, rescheduling of deliveries for no reason, changes of reason for non-delivery, whatever it is, they don't care! I hope that the United States is ready for this type of treatment, we in the military have been dealing with it for years. Now that the "change" has come, I hope that you're ready for it.

When there has been problems with a prescription there has been no or inadequate attempts to contact my doctor. I also have additional complaints. In the past I have made a formal complaint to the Department of Defense. The previous supplier (Merck) was much easier to work with.

So, we are now stuck with two bottles of medication that we cannot use and we were also charged for the prescription. We were on the phone with them for over an hour trying to find out why they sent us an auto-refill and charged our credit card when we did not request it. There was nothing they could do for us. My husband told them to never send anything by auto-refill and he also told them to remove our credit card number from their system. Recently, we sent in a prescription to fill. You would think we learned our lesson by now. The prescription didn't arrive in the mail until four weeks later. When we opened the package, we discovered that Express Script took it upon their own to charge our credit card for a medication that our insurance did not cover and charged us $60.00. Why didn't they call us first before filling the prescription? Anyone with any common sense would see that we do indeed have drug coverage. So why would we want to pay $60.00 for something that should cost only $12.00?

Then come to find out, our insurance plan through Express Script does not carry the simple drug of Meclizine, the generic form of Antivert. They had our contact information and they could have called to let us know that the medication was not covered under our plan. When we asked if it were possible to return the medication, we were told no because we opened the package. ****! You have to open the package to get the paperwork out. Why don't they send the bill separately? This way if there is a problem, the package can be sent back untouched. Both women I spoke to sounded almost robotic. It was as if they repeated the response on a daily basis. We will never do business with them again! I will make it a point to let every person I know how deceitful Express Script is. I will also file additional complaints.

Both myself and my husband receive our medicine through Express Scripts and are very dependent upon mail service for the medicine. In the past, service has been excellent but in the last few days the same calls have come in.

Today I received the same call and when I tried to call Express Scripts the person was unable to understand what I was trying to explain to her. She just said she would remove us from e-mails -- we do not receive emails so it was necessary to try to contact someone to understand through this email.

In the past after jumping through many many hoops I was able to get a refund. Not this time however. I was given a resolution specialist who has been anything but that. All I ever get is voice mail and after attempting 12 times to contact this person I was finally told to go to my bank and fill out an affidavit for unauthorized payments to get my refund. Well after doing that, I was told by the bank that I have to resolve this with the merchant that charged me. The bank went as far as too contact Medco who then lied to the bank, saying that they do not show any over payments and they will not refund anything.

o now not only am I out the money they overcharged me, but also multiple overdraft charges incurred when the unauthorized payments went through. I have also asked multiple times for lump sum billing and the request always falls on deaf ears. I was told they do not do that, that they only bill out for individual prescriptions in which I caught them in,yet another lie as I take 12 Rx's and routinely only receive 4 bills for 12 Rx's. Next, I use to take Nexium as my acid reflex Rx in which I have to take as my Metformin causes the acid reflex. I was informed by my doctor that I can no longer take that as it interacts with Plavix in a bad way. The only thing that I can take that actually works is Prevacid, but Medco will not cover Prevacid because there is a generic for it.

The generic does not work for me so I have to use the Prevacid in which Medco likes to charge me four times the amount that I was paying for the Nexium. They say I have to take the generic regardless whether it works or not. Their customer service is non-existent. I have worked in customer service most of my life. If I ever treated a customer the way I have been treated by this company, I would never be able to get work any where.

Finally, I cannot take it any longer. As the last time I spoke with them, they guaranteed I would receive my refills automatically. "No worries," they said. Everything is now as it should be. This after so many issues, I can't even begin to list, including my doctor not even being able to prescribe the blood pressure medicine I had been on for years.

He actually had to use a different one that was "acceptable" to Medco. But I digressed, I was preparing my weekly pill box as I have about five critical prescriptions I must take daily and found that I had three left of one and two left of another and I have not yet received my promised refills. So I called yet again this evening and she informed me that I am not set up for automatic refill on two or three of my prescriptions. "How can that be?" I lamented to her. I was guaranteed it was set up correctly! No response at the other end other than she would now set me up on automatic.

I really should have taken another blood pressure medicine at this time, as I thought I was going to lose it. She must be used to the abuse I could not refrain from bestowing upon her, as she stayed as calm as a cucumber without apologizing for Medco. However, she did suggest that I could get a few pills from my doctor.

This set me off on another rant, as of course I could figure that out myself, however. "Why do I always have to fix what they did wrong?" No response again. So here we are. Why hasn't the Attorney General done something about these people? Kickbacks per chance? Something to consider. Lastly, why do their representatives all have accents? Are they located in the US? Nice to see they have jobs and I no longer have my job.

However, one prescription was for a name brand ** instead of the generic **. Instead of a $20 charge they billed me $150 for the brand name. I did not OK the brand name being sent. As of today, Express-Scripts is denying fault and refusing to adjust my bill lower to the correct co-pay. I think that Anthem needs to get involved and straighten-out their vendor of drugs. None of this is my fault, especially since their person called the doctor to verify the prescription information. Thanks in advance for managing your relationship with poor vendors and assisting me in dealing with one.

But more than likely, Medco and their parent company (Merck) do not have an invested interest in the drug ** (ergo they hike my cost to discourage my choice). They did not ask me, inform or advise me in any way that they were making a switch. Then when I called, they tried to tell me it was the generic form of **, that they could do this and they said they contacted my doctor's office and spoke with a Julia **. I never heard of her.

When I asked for a name and address to file a complaint about Medco, they said they would file one for me. Give me a break. I had already called or talked to at least 7 different people at Medco on 3 different dates (11/24/10, 11/26/10 and 11/27/10). They would only let me talk to a Team Resolution Lead. They would not transfer me to a supervisor and they would not let me speak to a pharmacist. They talked in circles and would not answer direct questions or pretended to not understand. After much hammering on my part, they did finally give me the name and address of the Attorney General in Ohio. Now, they are telling me it will take another 5 to 7 days to "turn around" the correct Rx. I was advised to leave another message to the same people I talked to yesterday (11/26/2010).

I am fighting to keep from falling further into depression. They have not helped my situation in the least. Instead, they are causing more delays and causing me severe anxiety, anger and worsening depression. They tell me I can have a free 7-day supply but I will have to get another Rx from my doctor. Why do I need another one? They had the power to create a new med for me without a written script when they made the switch. But no, when I am not doing the meds "they" think I should be taking they throw the problem back at me. They have no idea how difficult it will be for me to do this with everything that is going on in my life right now. My job will be relocating me to Atlanta, GA quite soon. I could very possibly be stranded without my meds.

I'm hopeful but not confident that they will arrive on that date. This is a continued incompetence. If the medicines arrive on 11/23, I'm in good shape. If not, I'm out of a medicine. I need to take on a daily basis. I'll need to get yet another prescription from my doctor and fill it locally while I wait for the Medco shipment to arrive. This is not the first and probably not the last time. This has happened.

The first time I spoke with them, they said that they would fax and mail to me the order that Dr. *** had submitted to me. During the second phone call, they said that because this person had sent in this request using a fax machine, they would not be able to send the fax to me and they could only send the fax directly to the doctor's office. They are claiming that unless the doctor assumes responsibility for this error, I will have to make this payment of $150.

I have lost more than half of my work day on phone calls with Express Scripts and the doctor's office. I am being held accountable to pay $150 that I don't have and I never purchased. I am fearful that this will affect my credit history.

Now a week later, my child is out of medication. There is a total lack of concern for medication to arrive in a timely manner (somehow the invoices arrive fast enough). My job's insurance requires me to use ES to save money. Yet, I do not feel my family's medical treatment is part of the equation. ES dropped the ball on the health and safety of my family. As soon as they knew the prescription needed further action from me or my doctor, they should have contacted me to let me know they couldn't ship the medication.

Medco claims they have not received a single fax. The problem of so many lost faxes happened the last time I needed a review to obtain reimbursement for a prescription. Within two weeks, I will run out of money for my meds and have to be hospitalized. I will also be about $20,000 in debt for which I may have to remortgage our family home. Both my doctor and local independent pharmacist have spent countless hours resolving problems with Medco on my behalf. I assume both of these caring and responsible practitioners spend a significant portion of their working days resolving problems with Medco on behalf of their many patients. They are still trying to resolve my current crisis and I may yet avoid a hospital stay and financial disaster.

Fruedenheim in the New York Times wrote on 9/30: “To meet quotas for the number of prescriptions processed every hour, employees delayed or destroyed prescriptions considered more time-consuming because they would require calling a doctor's office. It is clear that Medco employees regularly throw out prescriptions and faxes that will require extra time to process so they can make the unreasonable quotas mandated by their supervisors. I have read similar complaints regarding cancer medications which need to be taken on a precise schedule to extend or save lives. The company and its senior officers are aware of this practice. This behavior has been repeatedly prosecuted for by both federal and state governments.”

“In addition, they have been prosecuted and fined for many other crimes; fraud, negligence, kickbacks and more. I have had problems with every Medco interaction. I believe overwhelming evidence proves that Medco keeps costs down by inflicting pain and misery, ultimately killing and thus resolving problems with their sickest and costliest clients. In every case I have read, our government has traded the public's health and safety for cash. All the final agreements include the phrase that, "Medco did not admit to any wrongdoing". By this one phrase, they have made it almost impossible for those harmed or relatives of those killed to win civil suits.”

“The same phrase in these judgments makes it impossible to hold Medco's directors criminally liable for their behavior. Medco has racked up hundreds of millions of dollars in prosecuted fines since 2000. A slap on the wrist since they make billions in profit, record profits for 2010 Q3.We must find a way to hold each and every person involved responsible for their crimes. Our democracy depends on our faith in justice. Our lives depend on justice itself. My prayers are with all who are now suffering or have suffered from corporate criminal activities and greed.

Why do we have insurance companies if their main purpose is to play interference between the doctor and the patient. It makes no sense. Meanwhile, I and a lot of others, so I see, are off their medicines while Medco continues the facade of providing a useful "service", some service. They should be sued for fraud. I pay my premiums but get zero service. It's a fraud.

Call the doctor’s office after talking to some brainless Medco wonder. She says for my doc to call them. Doc says no, Medco puts them on hold too long, have patients to see, work to do. Medco has a poor response time to clients and med professionals alike it seems. I just had a heart attack a week ago and this nonsense may make me have another.

They began sending her ** and would charge my card for the meds. They would send it to me whether I wanted it or not. One time, it arrived when it wasn't supposed to and they would not take it back.They said I was responsible for the cost even though I did not order it and my card was charged. I should have quit then but did not want to pay full price for the expensive meds.

The worst experience happened this year. .My daughter's doctor is a great doctor and wants my little daughter to have the best meds possible. He wrote out quite a few prescriptions wanting my daughter to try some different drugs for her asthma. He told me I could choose what works best for me. I told them I have mail order drugs for maintenance meds and they sent the prescriptions in. Over the course of the next few days, al lthese drugs began arriving at my door and mail box.

When I called Express Scripts and asked why all these large quantities of drugs were arriving, they said your doctor ordered it! I said, "Wait a minute, I did not authorize all these prescriptions to come to my house!" Apparently, they don't notify you when things are being sent out. Then you would have a chance to refuse when they automatically charge the credit card number on file. My orders that have come so far are so large they have made so many mistakes blaming my poor doctor's office. I have tried to stop the orders but they won't stop anything. Every word they say is a lie.

I received 13 rescue inhalers! I could start my own pharmacy .I also received meds where one could be used instead of another but they sent me all of the drugs. My credit card has been charged nine hundred dollars so far. More drugs are still coming that I am expected to pay for, but they can't tell me what those are.The truth is they want to charge me on that credit card as much as they can because they can do it.

Apparently this is common practice .I was told if I try to send the drugs back, they will send them back to me and then if I mail them again, they will destroy them. This is mail fraud, consumer fraud, the highest level of organized fraud. One of the supervisors told me if I mail anything back, they will not cover my drugs anymore! Was that a threat?! I have been forced to buy enough drugs to last a year or more on my credit card. Does any of this sound okay to anybody out there?

I don't have an extra 1000.00 dollars floating around and this has caused a hardship for me and my family. I tried to disable my account with them and guess what?They wont let me! I guess I need to read them all the prescription numbers that are out there, then they can cancel it. I don't have them. Remember my doctor and I don't know what exactly they are sending. Why don't they have my prescription numbers? They sent the prescriptions! I want to help start a lawsuit against this company. I have never seen such bold fraud taking place from what is supposed to be a legitimate company. I am in shock! This company will tell lie after lie to protect the shady scam they have going on. Imagine this scam on very large scale! Their company must be quite rich! !

So the next day, my debit card was hit for $300 from Express Scripts after I just filled a $100 prescription at the local pharmacy. I called and then got a runaround and including the CSR telling me they don't allow that. I said, "I don't care about what you allow. It's about what you did already. I'm looking at my bank account and you have processed payment."

He then proceeded to scream at me literally said, "Well, if you'd shut up and let me explain, Ill tell you what happened." I told him to get a supervisor and she was rude and condescending. She told me that they made a mistake but I only get two choices, deal with it or cancel my order and don't get my prescriptions. I couldn't afford to pay twice so I went ahead and cancelled my prescriptions and now they say my doctor's prescription is null and void for the year and I will have to go back and get a new prescription even though he wrote it for each quarter until Sept. 2011.

1 week later, when I tried to make a purchase, my debit card wouldn't work. My account had been overdrawn because Medco had filled the Rx for brand name and charged me $463.00! When I phoned and spoke to another Rph (PJ **), she stated that I had requested brand name-not the MD, so they filled it with brand and charged me full price.

I spoke to my Dr.'s office and they told me, they had faxed over a new Rx for brand name only. So, now I have two, 90 days' supply of this medication. The Rph also admitted the original Rx was signed on both sides, and even though generic was crossed off, they "believed" the Dr. had written for generic.

I've had my Rx Tech license for 17 years and would never have made such an error in translating an Rx. This company is incompetent and I'm filing an appeal as well as writing numerous complaints to help others from making the mistake that I made. Allowing Medco access to my bank account and improperly filling medications. Don't sign up for auto pay! Due to Medco's inability to read an Rx, they've charged me $463.00, overdrawing my account, and now I will am unable to attend college this quarter because the money was going to be used for tuition.

OnFriday, September 3, 2010, Medco needed to talk to the doctor for more information regarding the dosage. PCP's nurse was on the phone with Medco most of the day getting everything needed to set up. I set up an account on the computer to follow the tracking of this medicine we so urgently needed. Because of the Labor Day Holiday, we understood that it would take a little extra time. According to the website, shipment was set for 9-9-10.

Then we received one more call from Medco on Tuesday, September 7, 2010 asking for payment. We paid $303.00 plus we gave more for overnight shipping. Once again being guaranteed that they have Foscarnet. This person said she would try and have the shipment rushed. She said that once payment is made, meds are shipped. On September 8, 2010, I called and confirmed that shipment will be on 9-9-10 and guaranteed that they had Foscarnet. On September 9, 2010, I called and was told that they have it and shipment will be in about 2 1/5 hours, and that I should call back then to check. Three hours later, I was told that they have up to 8:00pm to ship, and again I was guaranteed they had the med and that it would be shipped that day.

On September 10, 2010, as per the website it was not shipped, shipping date was now 9-10-10. More phone calls and more assurances later, I was told that it would be shipped that day, and it was just a glitz in the system. I asked to speak with a Supervisor, who told me the same thing that they have Foscarnet. The supervisor did do more checking for me after I called 3-4 times that day.

On one of these late afternoon calls trying to reach the supervisor, I once again went through the automated system, got someone who I, once again, had to explain everything to, while insisting to talk with the supervisor. He told me the shipping date was set for next Tuesday, 9-14-10, making it two long weeks for the medicine we so desperately needed, the medicine we were guaranteed they had, and the medicine we paid extra for to have shipped overnight.

I finally got to this supervisor, and I believe her name was Dominic. And she gave me the terrible news that there is no Foscarnet, and they never had Foscarnet. We were waiting for the company who has stopped making it for now to start making more and then get some to Medco. The only way you can understand just how extremely cruel this is is to know the back ground of what this man has been going through for the past 7 months. He has developed a strain of HSV2 that we have seen many, and I do mean many, doctors, and tried so many creams/ointments that we have lost count.

Yes, he has taken meds. orally and has had IV treatments. Finally one of the many cultures were sent to a lab in Alabama where they discovered the only medicine on the market that would help on this strain of HSV is, you got it, Foscarnet! We were told by our local drug companies that Foscarnet had been taken off the market for now, that the company who makes it may start producing it again in late Sept or Oct., but most likely it would be Dec. If then, if ever. A doctor told us that it is out there, we just have to find it. So I proceeded to, what I thought Medco who guaranteed they did have it and that we could get it.

Because of Medco's lies, we have been delayed in an effort to proceed with an experimental drug. The pain, stress and depression of the past two weeks are indescribable.

Fifteen days since, still they are not shipping the medicines because they want know correct information regarding ** from my doctor. I don't have any more medicine, between my doctor's office and Express Scripts bureaucracy, I am suffering without my medicine. I have a very bad experience with Express Scripts. I am diabetic and after paying a premium of $1000.00 a month, I have to suffer without medicine. I would appreciate that someone can help me in this matter.

Medco said there was nothing I can do, I cannot send the prescription back, it is my doctor’s fault and I just have to pay it. Even though when I asked their pharmacist point blank "does the medication exist exactly as is written on the prescription?" They said, "No!”) And now I have no choice because I am held hostage by Medco and I am forced to use them unless I want to pay more for my medicine!

This was on a Thursday. Saturday morning after, I went online to pay my rent and found that Medco had taken the money again! I angrily called them back and was told it could take up to 5 days to get the funds back into my account. Due to their incompetence, my rent was late and I had to pay an additional fee of $50! I have an outstanding prescription for glucose test strips. I was instructed to go through my local pharmacy for the first fill since I had none. Because I went to CVS that Medco then canceled all my refills! I now have to get another prescription from my physician and wait for them to come in the mail! They not only mess with your finances but they are messing with a person's health! If I had a choice, I would never have Medco! This has caused late payment to my landlord, anxiety and stress due to my illnesses, not to mention multiple calls with more undue stress!

My complaint is being part of Medco means you cannot use your local pharmacy and therefore not receive the usual service and advice on options that a CVS or Walgreens may provide. Who at Medco makes the decision to force generics on people? Is there any medical experience involved in this decision or is it purely financial? It seems that unqualified people are making decisions on the medications I take. This seems wrong and should be investigated. Whilst Medco may argue they are not forcing certain medications on people, I think they are well aware that their pricing is in fact doing it for them. Using the generic gives me mild joint ache and a burning sensation in my stomach. I can afford to pay the $500, but this is not a long term solution. I have already started investigating how to fill my prescriptions online from Canadian or Mexican companies.

If you do not hang up, they bounce you to the next person. Now my experience with this med is the last time I did not have it to take. I had to go to the hospital and get 2 pints of blood because of the bleeding so that is where I will be if they want to reach me with one of their letters. The stories go on and on, a new one for every time you need your meds or refills. I would give anything to just go to my local drug store and get what I need and as it should be but if I do I will be charged twice for that one med. I hate Medco

When the Cozaar arrived, the co-payment was $75 for a 90-day supply instead of $25 because the brand name is now considered a non-preferred product. Medco decreased the co-pay to $37 after I called to complain. The stated policy of Medco is to charge $25 for a 90-supply of the brand name of a drug. Medco could not explain why Cozaar was non-preferred instead of brand name.

Merck, the pharmaceutical company that make Cozzar also make the generic version. In fact, to simplify manufacturing processes, the generic and the brand name versions are the very same pill, which is not the usual case for generic medications. I did not know this information until after taking "Cozaar" for the last two months. In this situation, the brand name version should not even exist anymore--the shape of the pill was changed to match the generic version because it is the same pill. In this situation, the pricing distinction between brand name and generic should be removed as no physical or chemical distinction exists. Both Merck and Medco should be investigated for defrauding and overcharging consumers. I paid $65 too much for the medication and spent a great deal of time trying to resolve the situation.

For every 3 months. This caused a chain reaction to my account. We were charged with insufficient funds several times. I called express scripts to see why they took $266.43 from my account that I had not authorized. They told me that the doctor had ordered generic brand and that is what they charged for it. I explained that I was told it would be $10.00 for a 3 month supply and that was all that I authorized. They said it was so fault of theirs and they would not dismiss the charge and they would mail me the prescription.

It turned out that there are a couple of generic names for the medication but this was not explained to me nor the doctor I told them that I did not want the medication but they mailed it to me anyway. I did not even open the envelope; I just sent it back to them and called again to let them know that this is not the Medication that I wanted. They mailed it back to me again. I mailed it back to them. I found out that they destroyed it.

I turned this over to my bank as fraud and they investigated it. They found it to be of no fault of mine and had the company to return the funds into our account and the bank took off all insufficient funds. I thought everything was taken care of until express scripts then started billing me directly. I called them several times to resolve this but they would not do anything.

I sent them letters explaining the whole situation but only to find out on 7-30-10 I received a notice from a collection agency that it had been turned over to them. This is where we are as of now. I cannot believe that they are doing this. If you go to a drug store and find out that your medication is too high then you simply ask them to put it back and that is the end of it. I would love to be a part of a class action suit or anything that I can pursue this matter with.

I talked to the pharmacist and I was told they made a mistake and it would ship tomorrow. A week later, still nothing and when I call again, I am told another story. This happens over and over every single time. I have resorted to rationing my meds several times and have been sick from lowering the dosage to meet their delivery dates, only to find it still has not shipped. They count wrong, they lie, and are dangerous to deal with. If I didn't have to use them I would not. I suffered mental distress, physical sickness, and inability to function at my job because I am on a lower dose of medication than I should be. I worry about what the stress of this every month is doing to my health.

I forgot about it until today, July 14, 2010. I called this date and explained that I had spoken to Cindy who would try to resolve the concern. I spoke to Rick who put me on hold and then I was cut off. Calling back and going through the whole concern, I spoke to another agent who told me that my claim was too late for any action. I never ordered the drug from Express Scripts as it was hand-filled originally by Walmart.

This is a completely unsatisfactory response. The drug was never received by me. There was no way I could know that it was sent until I got the statement date 1/01/2010 to 5/31/2010. Express Scripts seems not to be an upright company. GHI paid $214.08. I paid $71.36 for a drug that I never received.

First, the reason my prescription was submitted late was a miscommunication with my doctor and I accept responsibility for this error. Second, when I contacted your customer service center all they could do was reiterated your policy that Medco has eight days to respond to a faxed-in prescription. I understood this, and asked if processing could be accelerated. I would be willing to pay an additional fee and of course pay for expedited shipping. I was told there was nothing that could be done and Medco has eight days to respond to a faxed prescription.

So my expectation was that my prescription refill would not get to me before I ran out of my current supply; so I resolved to get a small prescription from my doctor to bridge the gap in time from the last dose of my last prescription fill to when my current refill request would arrive. When the pharmacy called Medco they refused to pay for the prescription fill. When I then called Medco they said there was nothing they could do and I needed to have the pharmacy contact them.

Third, your customer service department lied, because I was standing in front of the pharmacist when they called back and Medco again refused to pay. So, as I am told by my doctor that this is a prescription that should not be interrupted, as hard as the personnel at Medco pretended to be unaware, I found it even harder to believe that nobody at Medco references the facts about the drugs they sell. I can’t understand that missing multiple doses of some drugs can be seriously problematic. At this point I realized that to make sure I can continue to take my regular dose of this medication, I am going to have to buy this prescription myself. I am upset and discouraged that Medco couldn’t seem to assist me with this situation, so I filed a grievance with your customer service representative.

Fourth, during the four-day process prior to closing this case, you claimed to have tried to contact me, which is probably true, but you called my home only during the day time hours while I was a work. You never called my home in the evening; never sent an email; never contacted my work phone. Overall, they didn’t try very hard, which is starting to appear like a trend.

I am in the business of Customer Service. I have been for thirty years, and since from a service perspective Medco seems sadly behind the times, allow me to point out a few things. Think of it as me taking the opportunity to set some Customer Expectations, even if Medco isn’t interested listening. First, over the telephone, I have found your Customer Service Staff to be professional and polite. Second, it appears your customer service staff has no real time contact with the rest of your organization; they clearly had no way of assisting me if they wanted to.

You have missed a marketing opportunity between you and your customers if you can’t resolve an issue like this even for an additional fee. Since your customer service staff did not intend to ever approve payment of my medication, regardless of how many times my pharmacy called them, they have an obvious lack of training, and access to people that can provide resolutions, as I feel safe in assuming, Medco's customers are in desperate need of.

Third, if you can’t approve payment of a prescription, don’t lie about it. Again real time contact with someone with even a moderate amount of authority could have resolved the issue. Fourth, (really?) you gave these four whole days before sending me what appears to be a form letter, once again stating Medco’s obligations for filling my prescriptions. Which leaves me with the impression that Medco doesn’t really care as long as they are paid? More importantly, now you can’t hide the fact that grievance resolution at Medco is a productivity gate that is measured by management. How fast can you close a grievance? Cathy ** can do it in four days without ever talking to the customer.

Fifth, Medco isn’t the only mail order pharmacy in the world, but because of the contractual nature they have of acquiring customers, i.e. lowest bidder, perhaps Medco employees are convinced they don’t have to offer any real service beyond the filling of prescriptions. After all, once my employer signs on the dotted line Medco must have to figure all these employees and families are pretty much locked in whether or not you give them quality service. If your indifference should cause a few employees to miss work because they didn’t get medications they need, well you can always have Cathy P., send the employer a letter stating clearly that Medco has eight days to fill a faxed-in order.

Someone needs to investigate and I intend to do my part. It's an emotional distress at a time when I have just been diagnosed with a serious illness. These people define the word pathetic.

What a horrible company. They are incompetent (lost faxes from a doctor 3 times! ) liars (different stories from different people). How the Department of Defense could have renewed their contract with ES, expanding the offered services is a mystery. I suppose it will be necessary to look at political contributions from the company's executives and Board of Directors to see how such a corrupt and immoral company is still allowed to operate. There needs to be a class action suit against this company -- and a 60 Minutes report too, to make sure nothing horrible happens. We will order the meds from a Canadian pharmacy and pay for it out of pocket.

The first involves problems with Medco's address software system. I am a dependent on my husband's insurance, so we both use Medco. We use exactly the same address but my husband always gets his medications on time and at the correct address while my medications are often delayed and sometimes even sent to another address! We live in North Carolina, but years ago we made an extended trip to be with our daughter in California for the birth of her first child. I arranged for most of my medications to be sent early to me at home, but one medication had to be sent to our daughter's home. That grandchild is now five years old and occasionally our daughter phones me to say that one or more of my medications have arrived there and that she will send them overnight to me.

I have phoned Medco about this problem many times over the years. Each time, I reach a pleasant customer service rep who apologizes profusely, informs me that the California address cannot be removed from my file but that he/ she, the rep, had made a notation on my file so the problem would never happen again. But, of course, it does. I often get an automated phone message from Medco saying that I must telephone back to verify my address. When I call back, I finally get a live person, and tell them my correct address for the umpteenth time. I am sometimes told that their computer program won't accept my address and gives them an "invalid" prompt. Each time I tell them that this is the address given me by the post office and that it is exactly the same address that Medco uses to send my husband his medications. As obnoxious as these repeated phone calls are, I worry when I don't get them because that means that my medications are being sent to California again.

The second ongoing problem I have with Medco is regarding their "appeal forms." I have had to change a number of my medications to conform to the list of medications covered by my health plan. One of them, however, I cannot change. Because I have not only allergies but also bronchitis and asthma, I need Fexofenadine, which is not covered. I have tried each of the "approved medications" suggested for me by Medco, but they are not effective enough, so I wind up having asthma attacks, bronchitis and sinus infections. My doctor wants to communicate with Medco about this, but they said I had to fill out an "appeal form."

This form is not available by fax, by email, or by download from the internet. It must be requested from a customer service representative and then mailed to me. I have been requesting this form for over a year. Each time, I reach a rep who apologizes, of course, and promises that the form will be sent out within 5 to 10 days. Each rep tells me that they don't actually send the form but they "push a button" that instructs someone else to send the form. But it never arrives. I now think that if there actually is an appeal form, the Medco policy is to repeatedly ignore requests for it as long as possible. If they wanted the appeal form to be available, it would be among the forms they have available on the internet. And if they did send it out when requested, I would have received at least one by now.

Anyway, I just talked to them today after they have sent back my claim 3 times and they have no record of it! They want me to re-file. I talk to someone different every time and get a different story every time. They will not let you speak to any supervisors. And recently, I just had my son's script filled and he was charged full price because he didn't sign up for mail order. Isn't that extortion? If his benefits cover his prescription co pay how can they do that? They told me that our plan doesn't cover his refills. My insurance company says that it is not true. How do they get away with this? What about people who are old, uneducated or handicapped having to deal with this. This company is making way too much money because people just give up instead of fight.

The doctor wrote a prescription to be filled at my pharmacy from the Activus brand which I had to pay full price for and was monitored for a three month period by my doctor. We found that, that brand worked. I then contacted Express Scripts and spoke with a pharmacist and they told me the doctor needed to rewrite the prescription and write dispense as directed with the NED number and doctor name, the doctor did this the next day and faxed it to them. I waited two weeks and contacted Express Scripts back, they told me it was in the process but couldn't tell me when I would be expected it. I have still been having to pay full price for it when I have insurance through my wife's union Labor National Health and Welfare fund. The prescription was costing me $10 which is now costing me $60 per month for 30 days instead of $90. In the last couple weeks, we have contacted Express Scripts a few days a week, have spoke with many people for hours at a time. They said it would be overnight-ed, and it was not. The prescription was written out properly and Express Scripts doesn't know why it hasn't came.

We have left messages for them to contact me and have failed to do so. And I have still not received my prescription, in the meanwhile we have made several calls and messages to my wife's insurance Labor National and have failed to received calls back from them as well. I pay for this insurance and feel that something needs to be done about this issue. Due to my wife's insurance I have no choice but to use Express Scripts. And they will not allow an emergency supply through my pharmacy even it's due to their mistake which makes it to where I have to pay full price continuously for this medication. I hope you can help me with this situation. Still to this day no medication or returned phone call. I am now in the process of having to pay full price for this medication. Thank you in advanced for ready this letter. All the money paying for full price. The trips to and from and on the phone with the doctors and pharmacies. And time off of work due to this issue.

I then checked again the next day and all information was gone. Someone had gone in and removed my order. After calling and asking about this, the operator had no idea and asked me to hold. I was put on hold for 18 minutes. A person came back on, said his name was Michael and he was a pharmacist. He was very rude. He accused me of trying to get my pain medication early and he was not going to fill them.

After I explained to him that I was not trying to get my medication filled early, I was just wondering why they disappeared off their website. He again accused me of trying to fill early so I asked my husband to explain why I called (at this point, I was crying and very upset). He flatly told my husband that Express Scripts will not refill my pain medication, and as far as he was concerned, not now or even when they were due to be filled, and hung up.

I am very concerned. My pain medication are all that allow me to function. I cannot get out of bed without them I called today, 6/25 2010, and spoke to a "Robin" and explained first that I was not calling to get my medication early. I just need to know how to get the 2 prescriptions returned to me so I can see my doctor before I run out and before the 30-day grace period ends and the prescription expires (NJ law says they must be filled within 30 days of the date they where given).

She informed me it will take 48-72 hours before someone in the pharmacy will receive her request, and then 2-3 weeks before I receive them in the mail. I will be out of my medication by then, and now have to make a new appointment and see the doctor and explain everything to him, and pray he believes me. Also, their dates for new refills do not match my dates. I received 3 months of pills; last refill was April 27, 2010. They say I can’t get a new refill until August 27 and September 3rd, April to May, equal to 1 month, May to June + 1 month June to July equals 1 month. My prescription should be filled in July not August or September as they claim.

I need someone to help me here. I am not a drug seeker. I have a very legitimate health condition. Prior to using Express Scripts, I used only 1 other pharmacy to fill my prescription and only if they didn’t have my medication did I use any other, and that’s only if they sent me to them. I need someone to help me. I will run out of my medication before they will return my Rx. My husband will lose a day’s pay to take me to the doctors. We can not afford him to do it again so early.

The day after the doctor changed my meds, I got the mail order supply delivered. I immediately called the company to tell them that the doctor had discontinued this treatment and that he had chosen another drug. They would not allow me to return the drug or to refund my co-payment. If the drug was only $10 or $100 I would just pay the price and throw away the unused drug. However, $190 is too much just to throw away. I have made 6 calls now and submitted 3 email requests and I keep getting the same response, "It was not their error in shipping and therefore they can't refund the money.”

I explained I would much rather wait until the night before I run out of the drug to go to the local pharmacy and have it refilled then, instead of trying to time my medical needs to their shipping schedules. I am reporting them to the Better Business Bureau. I wish I could find an attorney that would file a class action suit on all of our behalf to make them understand that the refunds they should make would be small potatoes compared to the potential awards by a jury. I am fighting a life threatening illness and am hoping that the new treatment, if I can afford to pay for it, will work as the doctor expects.

I was charged about $50 more co-pay each time because of Express Scripts's failure to notify. This was a hardship, and no apology was offered. Another time, ** was switched to generic and automatically sent to me without my refill slip being sent in. Thus, I had to pay a much higher co-pay. Express Scripts definitely needs to do a better job contacting patients and doctors regarding these changes which incur hardships on higher co-pays. Forget the bothersome shipping dates and reminders for refills. I'll take care of that!

Since when can a pharmacy management dictate patient's care? He has been on both of these medicines for over 4 years and thankfully has not suffered any attacks or any hospital care, thanks to this maintenance program. So now that a new company, Express Scripts has taken over, Jesse can no longer receive both of his absolutely necessary medications because someone without any medical schooling has decided so? I am ready to scream, sue and also contact all of the news media out there! Hopefully, someone will care enough about the children who have serious illnesses and take care of this. I have been in contact with a supervisor at Empire (Daisy at 1-800-431-1914) , and she cannot even understand the problem with getting both of these medications approved simultaneously for 1 year at a time!

To top it all off, I went to the pharmacy to refill my prescription today (long story short, the generic the mail order pharmacy was using didn't work so I resumed refilling at a store) and the claim was denied, because I had been sent this prescription recently. Never mind that the prescription has in fact changed, they still denied it. Express Scripts is trying to stick me with the co-pay for medication I did not order. Possible damage: compromise of my health because I am unable to obtain the correct medication.

After writing one letter, they sent notice that they were sending a three month refill. I did not request a refill. When it arrived, I took the original unsealed bottle of medicine and placed it in a priority mail envelope along with the refill which was still unopened in their own mailer. They received it and signed for it. The signature was a J. W. Medco refused to refund my $15.00 and after billing me $96.26 several times they turned it over to a collection agency. I am out $15.00. They have the medication. Now I have to deal with Transworld Systems collection agency.

I had all my non control drugs refilled okay. The problem is with the 2 controlled. I had to mail them an original Rx for both which they say that they received. They now have filled one, but the second one is out of stock and back ordered. They have no idea when it will be in stock so they said 2 weeks ago that they are mailing the original Rx back to me and I can pick it up at a local pharmacy. It has been 2 weeks and I still haven't gotten it back.

I am in Alaska and I have about a week of meds left. They could care less about my problem and will only say that they will look into it. I must now tell my employer again that I am out of meds and must fly back to Anchorage and attempt to get my upset Dr to call in an Rx to a local pharmacy and me pick it up and then fly back. It is just so dang exhausting dealing with them. I am 3,000 miles from home and can't go anywhere and deal with it. I always have to dump all of this on my poor wife and I know she is tired of it. I will never use them again and I feel lucky that I have a choice and can decide to purchase locally.

This delays my ability to get my prescription filled and causes me to have adverse affects from not filling my prescriptions. I have spent several hours on the phone with getting any resolution from their claim department. I am having stress from the same problem month after month. I do not believe Express Scripts wants to pay any claims and uses every possible means to not pay.

Monday, May 17, 2 doctors faxed 3 prescriptions to them at 1-800-905-9815. Today, Friday, May 21, soon after 4 PM local time, their automated phone system called to say they had trouble filling one of the prescriptions and to have my doctor call them. There was no way to know which medicine was a problem. I emailed them the names, phone and fax numbers of both doctors and suggested they do the phoning. Of course, offices are closed until Monday, May 24. I tried to “copy” my health/sickness plan, Empire MediBlue HMO and found their website was down.

We have been told that the prescription for ** has no record of prescription, that the doctor's fax machine does not work. There are no notes of previous calls, that would be 72 hours and will be contacted on progress. The doctor did not verify the patient or prescription. I told ** was received and verified by the pharmacist. It was being formulated. I received automated call verifying the prescription. Today again, the doctor did not fax. They have no record of previous calls or fax. I would like to know the doctor has faxed numerous times the prescription on his letter head. Where is the prescription?