We have HMO BCBS, and we went to our regular Walgreens first, and they told us oh no, they don’t offer the COVID booster for HMOs, the HMOs contract with CVS, and they sent us away.
Then Kevin got on the website / phone with BCBS (note that he HATES talking on the phone to strangers), and after much discussion, was assured that in fact, we could get the COVID booster at EITHER Walgreens or CVS, and it would be covered.
Then I went to CVS last night, and they told me that oh no, they don’t do any HMO insurance, we have to go to Walgreens, and they don’t know anything about the bridge program either (whereby the US government has said that they will cover the cost of COVID boosters for the uninsured or those whose insurance doesn’t cover it), which I think means that either their staff are appallingly ignorant or have been instructed to flat-out lie to customers. I hope it’s just ignorance.
And today I went back to Walgreens, prepared to argue for the bridge program, documentation ready on my phone, but they said oh, no, it’s fine, your COVID booster is covered. Not your flu vaccine, though, sorry.
I, of course, said FINE, please give me the COVID booster, and they did. (No side effects yet, some hours later.)
And I honestly don’t know what is going on with all of that, but if your insurance doesn’t seem to cover the COVID booster, before you pay $200 out of pocket for it, please look into the bridge program for the uninsured, which will end 12/31/24. (You may need to go to a health center, see link.)
I will also rant here about how when Vyvanse finally had a generic available, my HMO insurance stopped covering the brand name, which would be fine, except that the generic is low in stock, and so I currently have a choice between paying $300 / month for the brand name (used to be $30)…
…or calling around to find a pharmacy that might have some of the generic in stock (which I spent some hours doing, finally found one), and then trying to get a hold of my doctor to hopefully get her to call in the prescription to the new pharmacy before I leave town early Thursday morning. Also for Anand’s prescription to his doctor. I left messages for both of them, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow morning.
IMPORTANT NOTE: apparently there is a new law as of September 2023 that allows pharmacies to transfer even controlled substance prescriptions within their system (so one Walgreens can authorize another Walgreens to fill your prescription), but a lot of pharmacists don’t know about that yet, it seems. (It’s unclear to me whether Walgreens can transfer to CVS, etc.)
Here is the relevant info in case you need it.
And if this is all seeming scattered and incoherent, forgive me, I didn’t get to take my ADHD meds today, and my brain is NOT WORKING PROPERLY and we hates it, my precious.