<p>We use three different pharmacies:
- my insurer’s captive, Optum for mail-order prescriptions, when that is the most economical route. They’re annoying, but for vanilla prescriptions I haven’t had too many problems, other than HIPPA hurdles that verge on the ridiculous,
- Costco, for two generic prescriptions that are way cheaper there than our co-pays through our insurance plan, though the Costco pharmacist has some of the worst bedside manner I’ve encountered,
- And a local, high-end “chain” pharmacy called Pharmaca that provides fantastic personal assistance for any other prescriptions. I love these folks. It costs exactly the same to fill insurance prescriptions with them as it does at the grocery store or Walgreens pharmacy, but the customer experience could not be more different. They’ve got it figured out. I’ve had pharmacists there who’ve questioned doctors on the appropriateness of certain prescriptions or dosages, and techs & pharmacists who managed to work through Medco’s convoluted system when I wanted a generic version of a drug even though the brand version was on the “preferred list”. (Still convinced Medco was getting kickbacks from the drug manufacturer on that one.)</p>