A pediatrician in Santa Clarita is offering a tip for parents when their child’s prescribed medication is not covered by insurance, which she said is becoming more and more common.
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“I am constantly being besieged by pharmacies … that the drug that I’ve prescribed to my patient is not covered,” said Dr. Rochelle Feldman of Prima Pediatrics. “We’re talking about routine medications that are not covered, routine antibiotics that are not covered.”
In this case, parents typically have to wait about two days for a treatment authorization request to be submitted to their insurance company while their child is still sick, and possibly getting sicker, according to Feldman.
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“Little known fact: there are companies online — Good RX is the first one that comes to mind, as well as many others — where you can look up the medication you need,” Feldman said. “You can look it up and see how much it actually costs. What none of the drugstores are telling you is that the actual cost is (usually) less than your co-pay.”
For instance, a pharmacy might want to charge a parent over $300 for their child’s medication without going through insurance, but Feldman noted that if the parent goes to Good RX, they can get a coupon for a place like Costco for the actual cost of the medication, which could be as low as $20.
Feldman herself has begun looking up medications through Good RX at the time she prescribes them, to both ensure her patients get their medications right away, but also to save herself the time of dealing with the pharmacies and insurance companies.
“I’ve begun doing that in my office; most doctors won’t,” she said. “(Not using Good RX) takes up too much of my time, and then I end up with twice as much work and I end up with twice as sick patients.”
Ed. Note: This article is a KHTS Community Spotlight based on a recent radio interview with Prima Pediatrics.
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I get most of my prescriptions filled at CVS. In the past when I needed insulin for a cat or a drug for myself that was not covered by Express Scripts, they would search online and find a better deal for me, without even asking them. That’s a great service. I have received cheaper meds via GoodRx thanks to them.