New Medication Question
 

I have been reading the posts on the previous threads but can't find answer to this one. We will be leaving for Europe and will be traveling to Amsterdam, Belgium, Paris and London for a little over a month. We have been fighting with our insurance to get 35 days worth of meds to take with us (they only pay for 30 days at a time). We have new RXs from our doctor for them as well. Will any pharmacy in these places fill a prescription from an American doctor or might we just have to do without?

We went through this with my husband recently - see if your insurance carrier has a vacation exemption. We use Aetna, and my husband just had to fill out a form and submit it to the pharmacy and they filled the extra prescription.

I looked it up at the website of a Dutch pharmacy. And the answer isn't a straight no or yes. As far as I understand it, they will fill a prescription if there is no doubt that the presscription is real, the medication and dosage is clear and they can verify the identity of the one needing the prescription. But they can ask you to visit a general practitioner. You probably will have to pay for the medicine yourself and send the invoice to your own insurance.

It also depends to some extent on the prescription. Some drugs on prescription in the US are just not available in some European countries. Others don't need a prescription here at all. Oh and make sure

You will have to go through a local doctor to get a prescription for medicine in Europe.

I cannot believe a health insurance company would be unwilling to let you have enough medicine to last through your holiday. While you are at it, confirm they will cover you for medical care outside the US. Maybe when they realise they will have to pay for a doctor's appointment in Europe, they will see some sense. ;-)

darn cut off in my prime :). Make sure you have the generic name of the medicine on the prescriptions not just the US brand name. And also the exact dose, since that can vary too - one tablet may have a higher or lower dose here than in the US.

Good point from hetismij2! When I switched from an American to a British doctor some of my meds had to change, and virtually all the brand names were different.

Even if you get the additional 5 days through your insurance (which you will if you persist) it is a good idea to bring a list of prescriptions with the generic name and dosage, just in case your medicine gets lost during the trip.

We also have this problem.
Our solutions are:
1. Ask the doctor for professional samples to cover the gap. This is what we usually end up doing and doctors are "usually" sympathetic presuming they don't think we are abusing the system.
2. Pay on our own. We have done for MIL, but not yet for us.

We also have an option to go through a specific online pharmacy contracted with the insurance. We can get 90 days, but there is still this 10 day prescription "black hole". In a year, there are four 10-day "black holes." They only let us get the next 90 days worth of medications 10 days before our current medicine is used up. So if the medication is gone on Sept 30, and if we leave on Sept 19, they will not give us the next batch until Sept 20 and we will be out of the medication 10 days into the trip.

I presume this process increases the revenue. Since most people don't encounter travel "black holes", there is not enough people forcing to change this practice. I wish the practice is changed to allow people to order enough to cover some period beyond today at any time. Of course, people's needs are the least important with the current setup.

What is the name of the medication so others more familiar with what is available in the Netherlands can respond.

Greg
This is exactly what is happening to us only with the 30 day refill limit.


Thanks to everyone for your help and suggestions. Husband is still negotiating with the insurance company so will keep a good thought.

Have you asked your doctor if you can get samples to fill the few days gap?

The vacation exemption always fills the gaps for me. I am on Medicare and customarily get 3 months at a time through a contract provider. If there is a need for more, I call them and work it out.

I don't really understand this issue over just five days. I have plenty of prescriptions and I'm always "allowed" to get them filled within at least a week of when they run out. YOu wouldn't wait until the day you had none to get a refill, would you? I certainly never do. Now mine are cheap anyway ($10 generics), so my insurance doesn't pay much anyway and if they didn't, I'd just pay myself. But I've never heard of anyone who wasn't allowed to get a prescription filled until the one they had was completely over. What if you were sick that day or for some reason couldn't go to the pharmacy?

In fact, I usually see my doctor several weeks up to a month before they run out when the prescription needs renewal (some of mine are 6 months, some one year), and then I could easily start a new one and have a few weeks of pills left on the old one.

I don't understand why you would have to go without, you could always pay for them yourself.

>>>We have been fighting with our insurance to get 35 days worth of meds to take with us (they only pay for 30 days at a time).<<<

Wow. What kind of insurance only allows a month at a time? I've had Aetna, Humana and United the last few years and all three wanted you to get 90 days worth of meds at a time and offered discounts to do so.

It doesn't matter how you look at it. I get a 30 day supply once a month. I do order a few days before I am out. If I am gone 35 days, I'll be out before U return to the States.

In France, for example, you can get a vacation extension automatically if you are already on file with your usual pharmacy. Their computer has all of your usual purchases on file and all that they ask is that your normal GP provide a prescription to cover their service after the holiday.

Is there no such provision in the United States? (I must admit, however, that all of my standard prescriptions for chronic conditions are valid for 3 months in any case, because I told my doctor that I didn't want to see him any more often than that.)

We always travel for at least a month internationally and often longer. I call our drug insurance provider and ask for a "vacation lift." Then they fill the rx for up to three months. I have never had any problems asking for these early and extended refills. We have drug coverage with MEDCO now called Express Scripts.

Some policies by insurance companies do this. Some do not. It depends upon the insurance company, what they offer and at the price you wish to pay for coverage. My former job offered great insurance, the current one does not. It does not make sense but it is what it is.

Update on my med problem. Our insurance company finally gave us a number and said that the pharmacy could call them and they would authorize the refill early. I just checked and the pharmacy said it is ready for pickup:)

Congratulations! I'm happy to hear your insurance company finally saw sense. Thanks for taking the trouble to come back and let us know. Have a wonderful trip. :-)

If you use medication regularly, your insurance sometimes has a discount arrangement to get 3 months at a time. You generally do it through the mail. I make sure that, when I need a new prescription (because the old one has run out) I put it in at a time when I do not need the medication. I generally am able to manipulate the system so I have about 4-5 months supply on hand at all times. That means I have no problem even when I go away for 2 months or more on home exchanges. I do have Medicare. Your insurance might work differently.