Today's Get Off My Lawn rant:

Pharmacies! I am now the getter of drugs from my mother and that seems to mean several trips to the pharmacy per week. Last time, something went wrong and I waited for over an hour to be called to the window. I was telling the young woman manning the mask check station that when I was younger, I'd take my little piece of paper the Dr gave me, hand it to the pharmacist, he'd look to see what it said, grabbed a bottle of pills off the shelf, counted them up and handed them to me. About 3 minutes. Maybe 10 if there was a line.

And we LIKED IT!

I honestly don't think she believed me.

I remember the pharmacy my mother used to buy drugs at when I was a kid.

The entire space for the customers was maybe 6 feet wide by 15-20 feet long.

And they only sold drugs.

Not plastic lawn chairs. Not beer and wine. Not school supplies. Not...

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freeradical
I remember the pharmacy my mother used to buy drugs at when I was a kid.

The entire space for the customers was maybe 6 feet wide by 15-20 feet long.

And they only sold drugs.

Not plastic lawn chairs. Not beer and wine. Not school supplies. Not...

I remember places like that when I was a kid too, but there were a few other items that they sold. Word around school was that they also sold Rock Candy, on the string. You had to ask for it at the counter. I suspect that they also sold condoms the same way.

Any online drug options? I have United Healthcare Medicare Advantage and I can get regularly used drugs sent through OptumRX. The doctor's office sends them a script and the drugs just appear every 3 months.

There are still a few local pharmacies around here. I don't really have any prescriptions, so I'm going only on the occasional trip for antibiotics, etc. But what I've discovered is the Costco pharmacy operates like the rest of the store and doesn't gouge their customers. The other places to go are the local health centers run by an HMO or health providers that often have really low cost generic drugs. Like a few dollars is what I've seen.

the same thing thats happened everywhere else - all the inefficiencies are removed.

price compare before you fill a prescription - [www.goodrx.com]

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/2020 08:00PM by mattkime.

Can't you have the doctor call it in and then pick it up when the prescription is ready, or have it delivered? Or use a different pharmacy?

I have my doctors submit my prescriptions electronically. They're usually ready within a couple of hours afterwards and I get a call or text message from the pharmacy to pick up the prescription.

I use a few different pharmacies for various prescriptions and except back in March and April when the country was COVID-nuts and everyone was stocking up, I have only had to wait a long time once.

I was trying a new place that was close to home, but it sucked. Customer service was awful. And when that happened, I opted to go to a better pharmacy thereafter.

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I'd take my little piece of paper the Dr gave me, hand it to the pharmacist, he'd look to see what it said, grabbed a bottle of pills off the shelf, counted them up and handed them to me. About 3 minutes.

did they have to get approval from insurance?

And they only sold drugs.

Not plastic lawn chairs. Not beer and wine. Not school supplies. Not...

we have one of those in my little town here.

Can't you have the doctor call it in and then pick it up when the prescription is ready, or have it delivered? Or use a different pharmacy?

I have my doctors submit my prescriptions electronically. They're usually ready within a couple of hours afterwards and I get a call or text message from the pharmacy to pick up the prescription.


we do that. Once they have your prescription, and presumably approval from insurance, and they file your prescription, you still need to wait in line and intakes 20-30 min to get it.

I tried to change to the smaller pharmacy only a few times but they didn't have the medicine in stock.

Sorry. Dup. Removed.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/2020 10:24PM by Sarcany.

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space-time
I tried to change to the smaller pharmacy only a few times but they didn't have the medicine in stock.

I had a great pharmacy that closed.

Had to do some hunting then, and discovered a lot of variation in service and prices and stock.

It takes work to find the good places. I ended up using multiple pharmacies for different purposes rather than settling on one pharmacy for everything.

The craziest thing to me -- you may find it perfectly normal -- was that prices varied soooo tremendously from one pharmacy to the next. (With insurance.)

Generic and branded antibiotics might only vary by a buck or two from one place to the next, but some meds and supplies (same meds, brands, quantities, etc.) that were $14 at the first pharmacy I went to were $130 at the next. In addition to "shopping" for better service, I ended up shopping for better prices.

We really need strict federal regulation of drug prices. I expect that a whole lot of people would just pay that $130 price (or go without their meds) without questioning it. I wouldn't have known but for having had my prescriptions filled elsewhere.

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If they didn't want to save a few pennies, they could shave quite a bit of time by selling the original manufacturer bottles instead of counting pills.

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hal
I honestly don't think she believed me.

She smiled and thought you were senile. "Bless your heart."

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"Back then", it was a straight cash transaction between the customer and the pharmacy; NO insurance was involved. There was NO drug advertising either so, there was NO need to pay for all those expensive commercials. Simply put, life was simpler back then.

The craziest thing to me -- you may find it perfectly normal -- was that prices varied soooo tremendously from one pharmacy to the next. (With insurance.)

Look at all of your options. I have one drug that is much cheaper to pay for out of pocket with GoodRX than using my prescription supplemental plan.

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Where is there dignity unless there is also honesty? - Cicero

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. —Wendy Mass

Whatever you do, avoid the huge "pharmacy" chains (esp CVS), because they gouge you, and apparently, also the ins companies.

In my small town we had two pharmacies. An independent, that was strictly a drugstore, selling nothing else, and a Rite-Aid.

About a month ago, the independent store closed and the Rite-Aid placed large banners on the outside walls welcoming the independent drugstores customers.

I've used both places, and couldn't say one was faster than the other.

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Mr. Lahey: A lot of people, don’t know how to drink. They drink against the grain of the liquor. And when you drink against the grain of the liquor? You lose.

Randy: What the @#$%& are you talking about?

Seems like it's always been "about an hour."

And the pharmacist is always stoned; ya ever notice that? Check his eyes; he's experimenting with something back there. How come he can never fill a prescription right away, y'know? Really, he always gives ya that (stoned voice "Better come back in about an hour. I can't even read the bastard, man."

-G. Carlin

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GGD
Word around school was that they also sold Rock Candy, on the string. You had to ask for it at the counter. I suspect that they also sold condoms the same way.

On a string?