Upon becoming a patient advocate for patients who are forced or steered into mail-order pharmacy, our nation and our legislators must be made aware of another way that forced mail-order pharmacies are impacting patients across our nation.
When medications are lost, stolen, delayed or patients don’t want to have to risk their lives with mail-order pharmacy, or they are fearful to use a pharmacy outside of their trusted pharmacy to handle their life-saving medications, patients are often
- left without their medications
- paying cash at their local pharmacy
- using discount cards
- rationing
- going to the ER
- dropping their entire insurance coverage, because they have to choose between paying for insurance and risking their lives with mail-order pharmacy or paying cash in order to receive medications risk-free of interruptions in treatment or delays
- receiving emergency fills
Patients are left without their life-saving medications. Some patients go without their life-saving medications for a few days. Other patients completely give up stating that they do not have the time or energy to go through the numerous calls and complaint processes for them to receive their medications. Sometimes, the patient is left standing in the middle of the delivery service and the mail-order pharmacy as the two point fingers blaming each other.
Over the weekend, a patient battling cancer stated that although her lung functioning was very low, she was determined to track down the package that contained her life-saving medications that were late to arrive. She went as far as searching through packages at a warehouse trying to find her life-saving medication. Is this really pharmaceutical care or is this a pharmaceutical nightmare?
Some patients don’t use their insurance card at all & pay 100% out of pocket. Some find out 100% out of pocket/cash price is lower than their copay.
Lately, there is an increasing amount of reporting confirming the cost savings when patients do not use their insurance. One article by US News states, “You might reasonably assume you’ll pay less for a drug with insurance. You might be wrong.” Cost savings may be found when patients price check with an independently owned or community pharmacy instead of chain pharmacies or the insurance companies mandated mail-order pharmacy.
Some patients may turn to discount cards without knowing that some discount cards may actually still cause the price of their medications to be higher than paying cash at an independent pharmacy. Patients may also want to ensure that their information is protected upon using prescription drug cards as some have noted that prescription drug cards may collect data and sell patient information.
Life-Threatening Rationing Some patients have also been dissatisfied with the service they have received with their mail-order pharmacy. Others find that the out of cost to receive their medications from their trusted pharmacy is higher than they can afford on a regular basis. Some have experienced life-threatening delays or only want to receive their medications from their trusted pharmacist, so they decide to ration their medications and pay 100% out of pocket as they can. The medications many choose to ration are sometimes crucial life-saving medications. They may take half of a pill instead of a whole pill or take a pill every other day instead of every day. This can be life-threatening for many. Recently, one patient stated she had the option to pick up the mediations at her local pharmacy but the higher cost in the copay was more than she could afford, so she decided to ration. She didn't want to be forced to leave her medication in her mail-box or on the porch out.
Many patients make emergency trips to the ER When medications do not arrive on time and it is a medication that their lives depend on, some may visit the Emergency Room. I have heard from nurses who work in the ER that the number of patients coming in due to delays in delivery is increasing.
Some receive Emergency dosages from their local pharmacy We must really question how well is a system that requires a safety net that is being torn apart from the same system that relies on its existence. Due to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) forced mail-order pharmacy and unfair reimbursements, many of our pharmacies are facing closure. Where will patients turn as this safety net is no longer available because the PBMs have caused the closing down of pharmacies with their unfair reimbursements and forced mail-order.
For patients with limited income and whose lives depend on medications, some patients make the decision to drop their insurance coverage.
Some patients also state that the delays and mishandling of medications are not worth the risk. These patients may decide to drop their entire insurance coverage because they cannot afford paying to pay insurance premiums and pay cash for their medications to eliminate the many risks associated with mail-order pharmacy.
Paying for insurance and risking their lives with forced mail-order pharmacy OR paying cash for medications. Many cannot afford to do both, so they go without health insurance in order to afford the full cash price at their local pharmacy so they are not at risks of going without the medication their lives depend on.
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At what point will our legislatures realize that the pharmacy benefit managers forced, or highly steered mail-order pharmacy isn’t worth the risking of patients’ lives. Many of the PBMs forced mail-order pharmacies have a 1-star rating on consumer reports pages. Patients voices are not being heard by our legislators as PBMs force us to their risky mail-order pharmacy. Too often, our legislators only have to hear from the PBMs that the allowing of the patient to use their trusted pharmacies will only raise the cost and our legislators fold and forget about their voters and the patients. We need to remind them that the costs of the PBMs actions are costing more money. PBMs forcing to their mail-order pharmacy is costing pain and suffering of patients’ lives. How many patients and voters suffering will be enough to stop this unethical steering and forcing. We need to remind our legislators of who they are supposed to be fighting for. Their voters. Their patients. How many more patients will have to suffer needlessly? Cost-cutting measures that harm patients must be considered unethical and unjust.
Thank you for your support. Please continue sharing the petition.
Loretta Boesing
Email me: loretta@uniteforsafemends.com
Twitter: @BoesingLoretta
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