insurance card

[fernando1]

on dec19,i got some pain medicine for abdomen pain,today dec 30th i got another pain medicine because the pain was alot stronger and more sever than before,can i use my insurance card to get the 12 tablets i got from the ER.

[geminigirl1963]

What pain med was it you got on the 19th?  How much and what were the instructions for taking - i.e., number of tablets how often per day?

What pain med is it that the ER gave you a script for?

Was it your regular doctor who gave you the first pain medication or the ER?  If it was your regular doc, is he/she aware that you ahd to go to the ER and they also gave you a script for pain meds?

Are you under and pain med contract with a doctor such as a pain menagement doc?

It's not just a matter of whether your insurance will pay for another pain medication in this period of time, but also whether the pharmacy will be able to fill it - and that depends on some of the answers to these questions.  Doctors and pharmacies are under tight scrutiny by the DEA and they have a right to refuse to fill a script if it is considered too soon based on your other script.  They DO NOT have to let you pay cash for it rather than going through your insurance company.

[Cruffin]

You have no idea what you are talking about!  First, you can chose to pay cash if you want to.  2nd if you are given a prescription for another type of pain meds, as long as it's in a different class and/or stronger than the script given on the 19th, then insurance with pay.  The only time a pharmacy will refuse to fill a script is if it is for a medication your taking every month and you are more than 7 days early, unless you doctor indicates on script that it's ok to fill early.  Even if it doc doesn't say so, most of the time you can still get it filled, but if you are more than 7 days early, then you will more than likely have to pay for it out of pocket, insurance won't cover.

[Jaybay]

The DEA laws have changed so much that most pharmacies legally can't fill refills early or dispense new narcotics even if the patient pays cash to avoid insurance restrictions.  Paying cash to avoid insurance scrutiny is a classic symptom of doctor-shoppers which is why the Feds have put even more regulations on pharmacies in these situations.  Yes, if the prescribing instructions for the same medication are changed (increased) they can fill it and insurance will usually cover it but sometimes it takes a call to the doctor for verification.

fernando, if you're seeing a pain management physician for the original prescription you may put your treatment in jeopardy if you fill the prescription from the ER.  It's worth a call to your doctor for instructions about filling the new scrip.  Do you have a diagnosis as to what is causing your abdominal pain?

[Texas50881234]

You definitely need to let your current dr know about the script. Follow his advice so you are putting yourself in jeapordy for getting future pain meds.

As far as Cruffin's post, rules vary from state to state about on narcotics. Sometimes they vary even from pharmacies. One pharmacist may be ok with filling an rx a day or two ahead of the due date and others make u wait until the exact day it is due (regardless of what the dr says)

I was leaving town a few years back and my dr prescribed my monthly meds a few days early. When I went to have them filled at my normal pharmacy they first called my dr (from where I just came). Then went ahead and filled it but they told me regardless of wether the dr ok'd it and regardless of wether the insurance would pay ( they did) the pharmacy had the right to refuse the fill.

Hope everything is resolved by now!