What are the new state regulations on transfer of an Rx. (pharmacy, prices)

[howard555]

What are the new state regulations on transfer of an Rx from one pharmacy to another?

Years ago you could transfer one from pharmacy A to pharmacy B and a month later to pharmacy C to take advantage of some promotion involving a gift card upon a transfer.

I have not located the rules but I think the "frequency" of transfers is vastly limited and for some medications no transfer is allowed.

We had a recent scenario where we filled a prescription at Target for under $10. The next month the cost of the refill was over $20. They explained it away as sorry prices go up......we never went back there.

[Carolina Knight]

Schedule VI and VII prescriptions can be transferred as needed.

Schedule III, IV, and V prescriptions are controlled substances that can only be transferred once in the lifetime of the script.

Schedule II prescriptions are narcotic substances that cannot be transferred. They can only be filled once to the quantity prescribed. If the pharmacy does not have the quantity to fill that script, it fills what it has. The remaining quantity is voided.

[howard555]

Thanks. I'll look for a list of "schedule" drugs since the prescriptions do not say.

Various pharmacies have various promotions. Ex: Why pay Walmart $19.71 for Zoloft when a local grocery chain charges only $9.95 and gives a $25 store gift card.

[Carolina Knight]

Many pharmacies have a seven digit prescription number. If the first digit is a 2, 3, 4, or 5, they are schedule II, III, IV, and V.

On manufacturer's information, there is a C with a Roman numeral indicating it is a control and what schedule it is.

CVS uses N for narcotic and C for control.

[howard555]

Originally Posted by Carolina Knight

Many pharmacies have a seven digit prescription number. If the first digit is a 2, 3, 4, or 5, they are schedule II, III, IV, and V.

On manufacturer's information, there is a C with a Roman numeral indicating it is a control and what schedule it is.

CVS uses N for narcotic and C for control.

Kmart and Target have done something that is not exactly customer friendly. They say they do not control prices.
Target > around $7 > then the next months refill was over twice as much.
Kmart (CVS) the same thing. $13.64 and then $26.00/

Sadly we have 10 refills on the CVS and they doubled their price.

How many time can we transfer an Rx. to avoid these price tricks?

[myrc60]

Keep trying until you can't transfer it anymore. If you reach a limit you'll still be able to refill at the old pharmacy.

[Carolina Knight]

Originally Posted by howard555

Kmart and Target have done something that is not exactly customer friendly. They say they do not control prices.
Target > around $7 > then the next months refill was over twice as much.
Kmart (CVS) the same thing. $13.64 and then $26.00/

Sadly we have 10 refills on the CVS and they doubled their price.

How many time can we transfer an Rx. to avoid these price tricks?

Pharmacies cannot control prices if your prescription coverage provider sets the price and selects which pharmacies are in its network.

Schedule II prescriptions are good for one fill only and are dependent on the quantity prescribed and the quantity the pharmacy has on hand to dispense.

Schedules III, IV, and V prescriptions can only be transferred once into, in, and out of South Carolina. The life of these prescriptions are up to six months.

Schedules VI and VII can be refilled. The life of these prescriptions are one year.

[Carolina Knight]

Originally Posted by myrc60

Keep trying until you can't transfer it anymore. If you reach a limit you'll still be able to refill at the old pharmacy.

If you run out of refills, the pharmacy could contact the prescriber for additional refills, which would be treated as a new prescription. Prescribers may require patients to contact the office only.