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Caremark Rx is one of the big three pharmacy benefit managers, companies that supposedly save consumers and, not least of all, their insurers big bucks on prescriptions. But these savings, if indeed they exist, all too often come out of the consumer's hide, as the complaints in this section demonstrate.
Dina of Hamden CT (04/14/09)
I have multiple sclerosis. I have been on Provigil for fatigue for years. for some odd reason they denied it at prior auth this time. they lied and would not tell me the denial was their doing (cust serv kept saying to call my doc and the pharmacy and that was where the hold-up was - but it turned out the hold-up was that Caremark was denying). then despite [providing journal articles and a convincing letter from my doc (an MS specialist) they have denied me on the two additional appeal levels. now i am filing the external appeal. they count on the fact that most just give up
when i run out i will be barely able to do my job as i will be falling asleep in the afternoon. i am counsel to the majority leader of the state senate. i am using all the political pressure i can but to no avail Adrienne of Long Island City, NY April 3, 2009
Adrienne of Long Island City NY (04/03/09)
I mailed a prescription for Lyrica 75mg along with the new prescription paperwork. Script was for 2 pills per day for 30 days with 5 refills. Pills came in the mail today, a 30 month supply (60 pills). I saw I was charged 70 while a previous order I had filled in my local drug store was only 40 for same quantity. When looking at the Caremark website 'Check the cost of a presciption' feature, I put in the number of pills per day and did a search and the cost came up as 40 for a 30 day supply from the drug store and 111 for a 90 day supply with mail order.
I did another search to try to find the cost for mail order one month supply but that did not come up. Very shady. On the original order form it indicates that you should have your Dr. write for a 90-day supply, but it does not state that if you don't you will have to pay a penalty over the cost at a drug store. I received no help when calling customer service, sounded like she was just reading off of a script. I asked if I got Dr. to rewrite prescription for 90 days, could I receive any kind of credit and was told no. If you don't get 90-day supply, that's the cost-30 over retail. I suppose I paid for the full cost of the drug. Extremely deceptive practices.
I paid almost twice the amount for this prescription and was basically denied my benefits. Lila of Mars Hill, NC March 28, 2009
Lila of Mars Hill NC (03/28/09)
I sent 5 prescriptions by fax to this company 3/16/09. I called 800 no. today and they said they just received it on 3/26/09. That is ridiculous. I am now without my medicine and was waiting each day thinking it would be in the mail every day this week.
I didn't ask the Dr. for a short order to tide me over because it has already been 10 day till the order had been sent to them. Susan of Hilliard, OH March 25, 2009
Susan of Hilliard OH (03/25/09)
I have used Caremark for over 4 years now, only because my insurance requires me to use this pharmacy. During this time I have dealt with many mistakes. One of the biggest was last year Caremark charged my credit card over 1200.00 without my knowledge. A charge that should have went to my insurance company. When I called to question it I was told that since the card was on file it was used and it was a mistake. I asked that the card be taken off file. I then went through the mess of getting the insurance company to reimburse me for the charge. Which was not an easy task. At the beginning of this year I received a very polite phone call from Caremark. It had come to their attention that I had an insurance change.
When the insurance company was contacted it was found that I had a flexible spending account that was linked to a debit card and could I please give Caremark the number of that debit card. I replyed that I would not need a refill for a full 2 months and would give the card number at that time. I am a little wary now of giving out card numbers to this pharmacy. The person from Caremark then confirmed my insurance co-pay and deductible with me and stated it as a correct 20%. Before the call ended she reiterated the importance of Caremark getting the card niumber as soon as possible as it could delay shipments.
Last week I called in a refill and was told that I needed to pay 25% of the prescription charge. I stated that I had it in writting that I pay 20% and had just spoke with my insurance company confirming this. She told me that she had two notes on my account one said 20%, the other 25%. She would check on this, call me the following week and accept a credit card number at that time. The following week the same person (Annette) called back and told me a dollar amount for the co-pay and asked for a credit card number. I asked if this was 20% or 25% since she was only quoting the co-pay not the total. She said 25%. We then had the same conversation we had the previous week and she suddenly remembered she was suppossed to check on this, but hadn't. I was told checking on it now would delay the shipment.
So I gave her my credit card number, and called the person would had typed in the note of 25% and the note of 20%. She was the same person that had called at the beginning of the year wanting a my debit card number. She could not confirm the 25% or the 20%. So she did the math of the total minus my deductible and said it looked like 20%. No apology for making the incorrect note. When I get theese shipments I NEVER receive any billing paperwork with them like you would at a neighborhood pharmacy. It is only the medication in a box with a cold pack. I must rely on their word for it, and wait for the monthly statement from my insurance company to see if I was charged correctly or not.
The shipment was scheduled to arrive on my day off, March 25. However when I returned home from work on the 24th it was on my porch. A very expensive medication that requires refrigeration on the porch all day while I am at work. I ask that I do not have to sign for deliveries because it takes me some time to answer the door, but I always schedule the delivery on a day that I am home. When I called to asked about why the medication was delivered early I was transferred and then told to call a different number. I did I was told to call Annette later (she was away from her desk) because the computer showed she scheduled the shipment for the 24th. I really don't want to talk to Annette again ever.
Aside from the shock of the credit card charge and the wondering if I had been a victim of identity theft. I then had to go throught the time and effort of being reimbursed. My calls to Caremark take a large chunk of time out of my day since I am often transferred or given another number to call. The stress of each mistake can not be good for me. I would love to send Caremark a bill for my time wasted fixing their repeated mistakes. It has come to my attention that I made now use the local CVS for my medication. Unfortunatly CVS and Caremark are now merged. I do not want to reward such poor customer service with any more money. Jennifer of Claremont, CA March 17, 2009
Jennifer of Claremont CA (03/17/09)
Roughly around Jan 19,2009 a very warm day in CA, I received a prescription from CVS/CAREMARK mail order for a patient. The package lists my correct address, but the recipient does not live at this address. I wrote return to sender this person does not live at this address. Ironically, we were in San Luis Obispo the next day helping the pharmacists fight CenCal Health; which wants to use CVS/CAREMARK for their mail order prescriptions to local patients.
Then again on March 3, 2009 I received a package again from CVS/CAREMARK for the same patient. I reported them for HIPAA violations and to the California state Board of Pharmacy. This poor patient hasn't received their prescription since January to my knowledge. Also they broke a law by delivering to a door and just leaving a package without a signature confirmation. Noel of Agnew Dr, PA March 16, 2009
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