Insulin Pen Prescription Question

Fellow MDIers that use insulin pens: What does your typical trip to the pharmacy look like? I ask because I had an odd experience tonight trying to get a refill for my lantus pens. I had always paid the copay for a 30 day supply and received my box of 5 pens, 300 units each. My current dose is 10 units daily, but as we all know, that dose can vary. The pharmacist was trying to argue that my 30 day prescription copay only paid for one 300 unit Pen because I only need 10 units per day, which is 300 units per month. Anyone else ever pay their full copay for only part of a box of pens?

If your script is written for 10 units per day, what the pharmacist is saying is correct. Get your doc to write it out for more units per day, and you can get more covered by insurance.

Thanks for the feedback Eddie. I guess my pharmacist has been filling the prescription wrong for over a year! With the cost of prescriptions, it makes sense to get as much as possible for the copay amount. I’ll have to get my endo to help me out!

I’ve also heard some say that you can’t split a box, so they will give you the box, but make you wait longer than 30 days to get a refill. So I don’t know if it depends on the medication on when they can split or not. I have mostly been getting only vials, which they obviously don’t split.

But the bottom line, regardless of how they do it - either split the box or make you wait longer than 30 days, if you get a script for a bit more, you can get around it.

You should always have a cushion built into any script like that. If you are using 10 units a day, you need a script for more than that. What happens if you are at the end of the insulin and there is a snowstorm or something. Every script needs a cushion built into it.

Here is some discussion on it:

Your doc should be writing your RX for more than what you actually use! Geez, my doc writes everything for more than what I actually need (not by a lot, but a safe cushion) so that I don’t: 1) run out, and 2) pay less by stretching out the refill timeframe. Some stuff I get for free (Medicare/supplement) but the point is I don’t run low on important medical items like strips. Insulin? He GIVES me insulin. bottles, pens, you name it, whatever I ask for.

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Thanks for the recommendations and attached discussion. Seems like some pharmacies allow for splitting boxes of pens and others do not. If I want to stick with my current pharmacy, I’ll get them to give me a full box, but increase the amount of wait time between refills - which is fine. I also agree with getting a cushion built into my prescription.

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