TRICARE beneficiaries have one month to transfer prescriptions

Sep 11, 2018 11:28 PM PDT

1 minute read

TRICARE beneficiaries are encouraged to transfer their prescriptions to a military treatment facility.

TRICARE beneficiaries using CVS pharmacies have one month to transfer their prescriptions over to a network pharmacy, according to Express Scripts, TRICARE's prescription service.

In September, TRICARE announced that CVS pharmacies were out and Walgreens was in. According to Military.com, Express Scripts will add 8,000 Walgreens stores to the network, and remove 9,600 CVS pharmacies.

The move, according to Express Scripts spokeswoman Jennifer Luddy, is "intended to provide better value to TRICARE" while preserving beneficiaries access to prescriptions.

Beneficiaries who utilize CVS for specialty prescriptions will also need to move their business, or risk paying full retail price. Express Scripts notes that beneficiaries with medications at the pharmacy should switch them to an in network specialty pharmacy, specifying Walmart, Rite-Aid, Kroger, and Walgreens on their website.

Walgreens had previously been an in-network pharmacy, but a disagreement about reimbursement rates led Walgreens to leave the network in 2011.

Express Scripts says that beneficiaries who find that they need to transfer their prescriptions to an in network pharmacy have a number of options:

Beneficiaries can take their medication bottles to the new pharmacy or call the new pharmacy and have it contact the old pharmacy to transfer the prescriptions.
Beneficiaries can ask their doctor or military treatment facility (MTF) to send their prescriptions to the new pharmacy.
Beneficiaries can check to see if their medications, including specialty prescriptions, are available for TRICARE Pharmacy Home Delivery.

Beneficiaries are also encouraged to have their prescriptions filled at an MTF at no cost.

Questions regarding this change can be directed at Express Scripts by contacting them at 855-778-1417.