Submitted by mandapanda2891 t3_10dilxk in massachusetts
Hi all! I recently filled a few prescriptions, and one of them essentially doubled. I have BlueCross, has anyone else had this issue as of the first of the year, that you were able to find an answer for why? It's for the generic of Adderall 20mg XR, and BlueCross has been basically unable to give me any answers. Thanks!
Idk where in MA you are, but I typically don’t have any problems filling the XR at Walgreens on S Broadway in Lawrence! the regular release had been a pain up until recently though. 🙄
Thank you for the tip! I live in Boston…..I may try switching pharmacies.
Definitely! I would call around to see if any other pharmacies have it, you would likely just need to have a brand new script written and sent over by your Dr which could also require a new authorization from insurance
Yeah having the same issue. Called around and everyone said that the whole area is out. Think this is a blue cross thing or supplier thing? I had to get a new rx for 10mg tabs to get the dosage that way but had to lay like 3x the price.
I think it’s a supply thing as far as pharmacies not having them, it’s been like that since September/October for the regular release adderall. For the price though thats a Blue Cross thing, but no one can tell me why the price increased for me.
Do you have a prescription plan deductible? Sometimes certain meds will fall into new buckets where they are covered but require a deductible to met before they receive more coverage.
They also reset any price negotiations or preferred meds at the beginning of the calendar year. I’ve had patients with the same insurance and the same med for years and come January, the coverage is different (often less, rarely more), or in some cases, not covered at all moving forward.
As far as I know I don’t have a separate deductible for prescriptions, I just have my out of pocket maximum to meet but then I wouldn’t have to pay for any services/copays/etc.
Check with the pharmacy if you were issued generic versions where previously you got the brand name. I recently had this happen to me where there is a law now that that says substitutions of a alternate (generic) version of a drug is required if available. CVS claimed they had to use the generic in all cases where as looking into it more MA .gov pages would imply that is true only if the generic is cheaper (Source). In my case, a dry power inhaler went from $30 for the brand name to something like $64 for the generic. I was able to get them to try and get the brand name back at the original price and they were able to.
I appreciate this! I have been on the generic this whole time, but I may ask them to price the brand name with my next fill, cause when I did it myself on their site (which who knows if it’s even accurate) it was actually cheaper for the brand name than it was for the generic.
I wonder if the Adderall shortage had anything to do with it. It's not uncommon for prices or copays to change with new plans, new year etc. It could be something negotiated by your employer for the plan for the upcoming year, if your insurance is employer based.
So I didn’t put it in there, but I actually work in insurance! My plan is through my employer, and nothing on the plan itself had changed. They didn’t change the tier of the medication or anything. Basically the only thing that changed was the pharmacy benefit manager went from ExpressScripts to CVS Caremark, they also told me their “formulary changed” but they could not (or would not) give me any more information than that. The shortage would make sense, but it’s not the regular one that increased it was the XR, so I’m like totally lost lol.
How much more is it? Back when I had to purchase Adderall with cash because I didn’t have insurance AAA made the $90 prescription only $30 at chain pharmacies. CVS told me a lady got her $900 dog medication down to $90 with AAA.
I have Medicare so mine is only $3.50.
It went from just under $30 to just under $60, the regular release I'm on as well increased slightly (around $1), which is why this is making no sense to me. I did find coupons but in MA you can't use them instead of insurance
You absolutely can use the coupons, I use Gilead's program for Discovy and GoodRx for another drug that's generic.
For Adderall too? I had asked the pharmacy and they told me I couldn’t use a coupon instead of insurance on this because it’s a “controlled substance” and you can only use one or the other 🙄
That doesn't sound right. I use GoodRx for modafinil and that's controlled.
I looked it up cause I was curious, it looks like even though it’s controlled it’s not as highly controlled as Adderall so maybe that’s why?
Don't believe anything CVS tells you. They lie and gaslight like you wouldn't believe. Always do your own research. I use goodrx every month for Adderall.
It’s weird, it wasn’t through CVS that I was told that, it was actually Walgreens. That’s where I normally go for my prescriptions because I don’t trust CVS and their prices were always way higher.
I've had Walgreens pull some shady moves too. Makes me paranoid sometimes but its probably a mix of techs not knowing the law and the stigma around the drug itself.
I spent a year finding a good pharmacy. So worth it.
Tufts here - $250 deductible kicks in after new year
See it’s weird, with BCBS as far as I know/could find I don’t have a separate prescription deductible, & they don’t go towards my regular deductible, just my out of pocket maximum
I know this one! A few years ago they moved several XR dosages to a higher price tier as a "non essential" form, for Tufts Health insurance. My Rx went from 12? bucks to 75! Now I take regular Adderall every 4 hours instead. No shortages, inexpensive. The only downside is if you forget to take it.
So that’s the weird thing! I have blue cross and the tier didn’t change, but I am considering asking my Dr if I can take more of the regular ones, and forgo the 20 altogether once the shortage is straightened out cause that would be cheaper for me as well.
Can't hurt to ask! I can't believe how expensive it is now.
I know! And that’s honestly what confused me the most, where the regular went up, but only by like $1, and the XR went up by like $30, I’m like this makes NO SENSE lol
> A few years ago they moved several XR dosages to a higher price tier as a "non essential" form,
God Bless America™
If this is the first time you've refilled it in the new year it's possible that your insurance coverage changed slightly with regard to prescriptions.
From what I can find it shouldn’t have, and I’ve been going back and forth with BCBS for over a week now, and no one can seem to give me a straight answer as to what’s going on 😭
FWIW I'm in bcbs too and we got word that they'd put the old (and now incorrect) rx info on our new cards and were sending us cards with the updated correct info, but that's likely very dependent on where you get your insurance from (work or marketplace or whatever).
I got new cards with the new rx info, but according to BCBS the new rx info didn’t affect the actual cost or anything, it’s just because it’s through a new pharmacy benefits manager, that’s what’s making all this so confusing, like as to why it just about doubled in cost
Hi! I get my all of my scripts filled at stop and shop. I use GoodRX and sometimes that makes it less expensive than the insurance copay.
If you look on GoodRX, you can type in your prescription and see the prices of all of the pharmacies near you. CVS is almost always obscenely expensive for everything.
The problem is they won’t let me use goodrx in Mass in place of insurance for the adderall because it’s a controlled substance, I called the pharmacy to ask. Apparently it’s a law here or something
Hmm you should still use good rx to look up the different pricing.
I definitely use good rx for my controlled substance prescription (Ritalin) at stop and shop and it’s like $12 for a one month supply.
Good luck!
Depending on what bluecross says I may try that! I’ve looked it up, but it can’t hurt to call around to different pharmacies to see if they have better pricing in general!
That’s what’s so cool about good rx, it shows you the prices of the pharmacies. No phone calls necessary!
At first glance on good rx- adderall looks like it’s $23 at stop and shop and $49 at CVS. Same script.
I have used goodrx several times for the same med, just let them know you can absolutely use goodrx , do not let them tell you otherwise.
Try good Rx and see if you can refill at Walmart.
BU0989 t1_j4lo3xi wrote
I’ve been waiting for that very same RX since December 26! Every CVS I’ve called has been out of stock. I’m wondering if I’ll run into the same issue since I also have blue cross