Tricare Frustrations!!!

Our family has recently enrolled in Tricare Prime Insurance that is offered through the military. Scott is now an official retiree of the army after 20 years of service in the Army Reserves and the fact that he is now age 60. I have been frustrated from the start of this new insurance. I'm not familiar with the procedures and no one seems to offer any direction on the flow of things in the military health world. I'm constantly asking questions to folks that look at me like I should already know the answer. The up side to all of this so far, and it is a BIG up side, is that we are saving approximately $6700 a year in the cost of the insurance alone. Not to mention free scripts, free doctor visits, and free lab work but in order to take full advantage of all of the perks we need to go to the health clinic located at Fort Detrick. Sam and I had appointments a couple of weeks ago at 9:50 and 10:10 and we didn't get away from the clinic until noon. Sam was prescribed medicine and apparently the way it works is they key it right into the computer during your visit and then you walk across the hall to the pharmacy to pick it up. I wasn't told that until I asked someone how to get Sam's RX. We were so late getting out from our appointments that I decided to come back on another day to pick up the RX. The pharmacy hours are only 8-4 so trying to get there and not interfere with my own work schedule is a chore in itself. When I did get back to the Pharmacy, almost 2 weeks later, I first had to take a number a wait to be called. About 45 minutes later it was my turn, finally! I never in my wildest dreams thought that the RX wouldn't be ready but ... it wasn't. I had assumed that it would be filled once it was enter into the computer by the doctor. At that point I needed to be out of there in order to make it to work on time. So I told them I couldn't wait any longer and that I would send in Jenny that afternoon to pick up the RX. I decided rather than bother Jenny with it (she would have needed to drive to my work to pick up Sam's ID which you need in order to pick up someone else's script) I'd wait until my next late day for work (now late for me is only 10:45) to pick up the RX myself. That was today. Well I went in there and actually had my number called in about 15 minutes only to be told that again it was NOT ready. Now why on earth wasn't it? I talked to the folks behind the counter and even the pharmacist and no one gave me an answer that made any sense. I was almost in tears (one of my traits when I'm frustrated that I just hate) and I didn't have time to sit around while they filled it so I left, in a huff, extremely frustrated and upset.

I'm sending Scott in there next to get it ... he's retired, he's can sit there all bloomin day and wait. I think I can also get RX's filled at the local Walmart or Kmart although that would entail some copays, minimal I think. It may be worth it to avoid all of this frustration. Now I just need to find out how to get an actual written script to take to these stores. Oh my!! That's another day.

PS - I have no idea who this kid is but I found his picture online and I think I was feeling kinda like him today.