Pharmacies and Insurance companies, not your friends!

Why do people have to make simple tasks so difficult?

I live in a smaller town where we still have a corner pharmacy. It is nestled in a building that is at least 140 years old, where the giant Roman columns are throughout and the ceiling is still the original punched tin. They even have a diner attached to one side where you can get a "proper" breakfast at 6am. It is actually quite a charming place and I love to take my sons in there as it reminds me so much of when I was growing up.

However I have to question some things, most notably the pharmacists aid. She is in her 50's so she is not some "kid", she has been a fixture at the pharmacy for as long as I can remember and while I do not get the bulk of my prescriptions filled there I do have one that they always fill as they are the only one in town that carry it.

This afternoon it was time to bring that prescription in for a refill so on my way to pick up the oldest from school I dropped it off. I got out of the car and walked with my youngest the 1/2 a block or so down the street, into the store and right up to the counter. I handed her the prescription and she asked the standard "when is your birthday" and "do you want to wait?" I gave her my birthday and then told her I would be back in 20 minutes to pick it up the prescription as I needed to pick up my son at 3pm. She said no problem and that it would be ready when I got back to the store.

25 minutes later I find myself standing back at the counter, of course I am in a line that is moving at the rate of pond water. There are 3 people in front of me, 3 pharmacists and 2 pharmacy tech's/aides helping yet on one seems to be tending the register or the customers. Another 15 minutes pass by and we make it to the front of the line. I tell the woman I am back for my prescription, give her my name and she turns to go find it. I wait, and wait and wait another 10 minutes for her to come back and tell me that they had not filled it. I ask her "why?" half expecting to be told "they are out of this medication" as that is an answer I often hear. But no, this time I am surprised. Instead she tells me that "This is an expensive medication ($100 without insurance) and they were not sure I wanted it."

WHAT? I dropped it off and told you I would be back. I specifically told you I would be back within 20 minutes or so and that I needed this medication. I also have filled this medication with this pharmacy within the last month, so WHY WOULD I NOT WANT IT THIS TIME? This is not a medication I would just say "oh no, I can do without it." This is part of my pain management routine and without this particular prescription things start to get ugly if you pass the 12/24 hour mark without taking the next dose.

It boggles the mind. So she tells me they can fill it if I want to wait. Well now I am out and it is getting close to their closing so if I want it I need to wait. Only problem is now I have been here for close to an 45 minutes or so and I only have enough cash for the meds, nothing else. Otherwise I would take the boys and sit down for an ice cream sundae in the diner. Nope, instead I have a 2 year old who has torn apart the Beanie baby rack and a 12 year old who is acting like a complete snot topped off with his torturing his brother.

We sit and wait for them to fill it and about 20 minutes later the tech comes over to me carrying some piece of paper that just tells me something is amiss. Sure as the sun rises in the East it seems my insurance company has decided to decline the copay. I should have expected this after the other day, so I tell her what the deal is and she tries again only to be declined.

She was nice though. She asked if I would like to use their phone to call the insurance company and when I said "yes" she hands me this itty bitty little cell phone with HORRIBLE reception. What? I call CIGNA and of course now I have to wait for all the prompts, which with the crappy reception was no easy task, and I finally get a live person. I explain to her what is going on and how we had spoken with them just last week and got this all straightened out. She flat out tells me that there is nothing on file or in the computer anywhere, which of course is BS as we just had no problem filling another prescription since that night.

Now I frustrated, the boys are bouncing off the walls so I hang up on the lady from the insurance company and as calm as I can I ask the pharmacist for my prescription back. I came home and had the problem fixed in about 15 minutes but by then the pharmacy was closed. Of course after their shoddy display of customer service I decided to see if anyone else in town would special order it for me. Since I still have my emergency supply I am good for a bit.

This is the point that I realized I spend WAY TO MUCH TIME in pharmacies, especially CVS. I called there to check and see would they order the meds for me and if so how long would it take to get them. Now I am one of those guys who dials *67 before calling most stores, I just don't want to end up on some call list because I called them once. The girl answered the phone but since I am in there several times a month for my other meds I recognize her voice. I say "Hi" and explain what I am looking for and then before she puts me on hold she addresses me by name. WHAT? LOL! I never told her who I was and there is no way caller ID told her so when she gets back on the phone I ask her, "how did you know who this was?" and she tells me, "I recognized your voice." How sad is that? LOL!

Not a bad day really just frustrating to have to deal with the same crap over and over with the insurance companies and worse the wait for meds that should have been filled while I was gone. I mean why else would someone drop off a prescription and say I will be back soon? They have a computer, they sure would have seen that I have filled the exact same thing with them in the recent past. Oh well. I guess perhaps I expect to much of people at times. Having come from the food service industry I am all about customer service, it is quintessential to doing any business in my opinion.

My back is feeling good today. Not bad and not great but that is fine by me. Any day I am not hunched over limping from one piece of furniture to the next is fine by me. However my foot is fairly numb and once again it has that feeling of electricity coursing through from the knee to my toes.

I did bake a cake today. An orange marmalade layer cake, from scratch no less. I don't believe in making a cake from a box unless there is a fast need for cupcakes for a school party or something. I got this one from one of my back issues of Cooking Light which is a great magazine for those who want to be able to eat healthier without sacrificing one bit of flavor. Of course that means I need to go snag a piece if I expect to have any at all.