Well, another day and another strange move by some government officials in the great state of Oklahoma.
Remember the fiasco that was the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department’s decision to close seven state parks?
There’s another brilliant move coming up. Starting in January, all state employees and teachers will be forced to get most of their prescriptions by mail.
This is preventive medicines, which are typically for 30, 60 and 90-day supplies of drugs. Again, this is preventive medicines. State employees can still get a prescription filled at a local pharmacy if it is for a cold, infection, etc., which is not a preventive drug.
The move is expected to save the state over $8 million a year.
Great, huh?
Uh, not really. These orders will be filled by out-of-state companies with the money being sent to companies in different states.
Naturally, Oklahoma pharmacists are not happy with this move. They shouldn’t be. Neither should state residents.
While this might appear to save $8 million, it actually has an estimated $75 million negative impact on the state with lost revenues.
That will hurt countless pharmacies, especially the small-town pharmacies. Think you can get the same customer service from some drug company in Texas or Arizona as you do with your local pharmacist?
I don’t.
My only experience with mail-order prescriptions was not a good one. While working for a company which marketed medical plans for senior citizens, customers were told they could get their prescriptions for free if they were by mail.
Sounded great, except when orders were delayed or the prescription was messed up. This caused customers to be without their prescriptions and was a pain in the rear for the customers and doctors, who had to redo prescriptions which were supposedly never received by the drug company.
Several legislators are trying to change this decision, along with state pharmacists.
Hopefully the state will realize this is a bad move. But based on recent decisions, don’t hold your breath.
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Stupid move...have a feeling that the state officials will be exempt....since alot of meds have gone to 4$...I will just pay for them....
ReplyDeleteMy mother has Oklahoma retired teachers insurance and her med orders are always messed up; come by delivery and left on bench at front door many times; if they are short or they do not get them correct, she cannot get a fix - she has to just pay for it. The state is wrong, but the public started this mess when they started using mail prescription to save their personal funds. We are all guilty of "ordering" when we could purchase at home. But being told they HAVE to is just not right. Personally, I don't think it's a whole lot worse than giving it to Wal-Mart but that is just me. We certainly don't support our "local" stores by giving them all of our business.
ReplyDeleteFollow the money
ReplyDeleteI really hope this can be prevented. I am concerned about medications being stolen in our mail boxes. People on drugs are desperate and it won't take them long to determine who is getting medications by mail.
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