Military friends, TRICARE peeps....please read and learn. Jeremiah cut off the end of his finger and needed to be stitched. We know that Emergency Care is a covered benefit. So we went to the ER knowing we had insurance and there wouldnt be a problem. We were discharged at midnight, and since his finger was numb I decided to wait until this morning for the pharmacy. J woke up at 5 and it was throbbing and hurting, so we left around 6 to head to the pharmacy. Walgreens. Cause that is who has a 24 hour pharmacy, right? Our nearest Walgreens is not open 24 hours, but they told me where the closest one was, 15 minutes down the road. Off we go. Maam, we no longer contract with Tricare. I ask what that leaves me for options, where a pharmacy is that Tricare does use...none that are open. So, I call Tricare to ask if I pay for the script out of pocket can I file a claim for reimbursement based on the fact that it was urgent care related and no place was open....NO. They do not cover scripts filled outside the network. So I then called the Tricare pharmacy peeps to get a list of exactly WHO does Tricare contract with in my area and are any of them open. Safeway, King Soopers, Walmart....none of which had a pharmacy open until 10am. What did I learn? FRIENDS...CALL Tricare Pharmacy (Express Scripts) 8773631303 and ask for a list of your local contracted pharmacies - NEXT....call those pharmacies to get hours. File a complaint with Tricare if you have no access to medications after hours - I honestly would have no problem with paying out of pocket and filing a claim...but to not even have that option is a Tricare fail in my opinion. Hindsight is 20/20....I will from this day forward ALWAYS ask for any prescribed narcotics to be given to us at hospital discharge in a quantity that takes us to noon the next day. I hope this helps SOMEONE in the future to avoid issues with getting needed medications, feel free to share.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 14:39:30 +0000