Free RX Drugs for Blue Cross Members in NC

[MeanGene]

This excludes State and Federal Workers. I saw on the news that you get free prescription drugs from October to December. (At least I think those were the dates). Must be nice. Aetna Sucks!!

[shill22]

I'm not sure its free-the news report I saw said Blue Cross Blue Shield was waiving just the copay *if* you chose to take the generic version instead of the original/namebrand. Insurance company is still having to pay their portion to the pharmacy but its sure is a lot less expensive than the namebrand!

[puck_it]

mean gene you always post about free stuff :D its great hehehe

[StormShaman]

Just wish I could afford to get a BCBS policy. They're the only insurance company that I've never had a problem with.

[Canesluver]

It's a good deal -- but only for generics. Here's the whole story that appeared in today's N & O:

Generic drugs available for free
Blue Cross deal has limits

By JEAN P. FISHER, Staff Writer

Blue Cross and Blue Shield members won't pay a penny for prescriptions filled between Oct. 1 and the end of the year -- as long as they agree to take generic medicines instead of more costly brand-name drugs.
Chapel Hill-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina announced Tuesday that it won't charge co-payments for filling any generic prescription, including refills, during the last three months of the year. Dr. Robert Harris, Blue Cross' chief medical officer, said there is no special significance to the timing of the program, except that rising health-care costs -- and particularly drug costs -- are a front-burner concern for just about everyone.

"There's a real concern around drug costs, and this is something we can do," Harris said.

Blue Cross' leaders hope the "co-payment holiday" will persuade members who are now taking brand-name medicines to switch to a lower-cost generic. Doing so would ultimately save members money on co-payments and reduce the insurer's drug costs.

About 1.1 million members who have drug coverage through a Blue Cross health plan qualify for the co-payment holiday. The rest of Blue Cross' 3 million members -- including members of the state health plan, the federal employees benefit plan and members of out-of-state Blue Cross plans who use the North Carolina Blue Cross network -- are not eligible.

Harris said picking up members' co-payments for the three-month period will cost Blue Cross about $10 million. But over time, the company stands to recoup much more on reduced drug expenses if it persuades even a fraction of its members to switch to generic drugs. Generic medicines cost between 30 percent and 70 percent less than brand-name drugs, according to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.

Ron Smith, Blue Cross' director of corporate pharmacy, said Blue Cross would save about $8 million a year if just 3.5 percent of members who now take a branded drug move to a generic. There's good reason to believe the response rate could be greater.

Last year, Blue Cross mailed letters to members taking a brand-name medicine with at least one generic alternative and pointed out how much those members could save on co-payments by moving to the generic drug. More than 50 percent of members who got the letters ended up switching.

Most insurers encourage their members to use generics in one way or another, but waiving co-payments is somewhat unusual. Blue Cross spokeswoman Gena Arthur said the company is aware of campaigns by other private insurers that have waived co-payments if members drop a specific brand-name drug in favor of a generic. She said Blue Cross isn't aware of any major effort that matches the scope of its co-payment holiday, which applies to any generic medicine.

Blue Cross members who are attracted to generics by the promise of free medicine can continue to save if they stick with the lower-priced drugs when they go back to paying co-payments in 2005.

Blue Cross members who choose a generic instead of a branded drug will save $10 to $30 a month per medicine on co-payments -- or annual savings of up to $360 per drug, according to Blue Cross. A typical Blue Cross member pays a $10 co-payment for a generic drug, $25 for a preferred brand-name medicine and $40 for a nonpreferred brand.

Blue Cross spokesman Mark Stinneford said the company is trying to provide its customers with common-sense ways to save on health care.

"This is one thing people can do today to save money," he said.

FREE MEDICINE


WHAT: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina will temporarily waive co-payments for all generic prescriptions, including refills, for its members.

WHEN: Starting Oct. 1 and ending Dec. 31

WHY: To help Blue Cross and its members save money on medicine by encouraging the use of generics.

HOW IT WORKS: Members must have a valid prescription for a generic medicine. To get the discount, they must present their Blue Cross identification card at a network pharmacy.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE: About 1.1 million Blue Cross members who have drug coverage through a Blue Cross health plan. Members of the N.C. Teachers' and State Employees' Comprehensive Major Medical Plan and the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan are not eligible. Blue Cross processes claims for those plans but does not administer drug coverage.

QUESTIONS: Call Blue Cross' customer service line at (877) 258-3334.

My company switched to BCBS in July, so I'm liking this news!

[SouthernHockeyChick]

I can bet many pharmacists are having mixed feelings on this. We're gonna get *****ed out left and right because the stupid laws requiring scripts to be written a certain way that many doctors either ignore or aren't aware of (likely the latter since it's all about insurance reimbursement) are going to cause a lot of people to have to wait a little longer for their meds and cause a lot more headache for the pharmacists.

Also, there are some drugs that, IMO, people don't need to be switching from brand to generic on. There will certainly be some folks whose conditions have been controlled in the past and suddenly things are out of whack. Thyroid meds, blood thinners and some heart meds should not be messed with. I wonder how easy it will be to convince the patients of that....especially when they already believe pharmacies make more money on brand-name drugs when, in fact the profit margin is exponentially higher on generics.