Strip shortage

I got a new RX for strips to test 4 times a day, I was in a hurry when I picked it up from “wally world” and didn’t realize til I was counting it up that it should have been 120 strips,I got 100. 2 boxes of 50. When I called them on this they said they can’t break up the boxes and blamed it on my insurance hinting that they wouldn’t approve that much testing. My insurance rep said they have no limitations on the amount of testing,nice to know! I was wondering if anyone else had this problem? I’m going to transfer this to another pharmacy,but going to ask first how they will handle this. I’m going to get my 120 strips!

I get two boxes which totals 200 strips a month. I test anywhere between 8 to 12 times a day.

Yes, I think the problem is that your prescription was written for 4 times a day. Ask your doctor to increase that to 5 times (so you can get 150)-- if your insurance doesn’t have a limit, then you can increase it even further. As high as your doctor will write it!

I would talk with a supervisor. They do make boxes with only 25 strips in them.

I had an incident recently where my Endo increased my prescription so I could get 400/month. I asked my pharmacist to fill 3 months at a time (1200 strips). I called my insurance company in advance and was told no limit, so no problem right.

Then I went to pick up my order and it was for half the prescribed amount… the reason “your plan doesn’t allow that many”. I called my insurance again, they looked it up and told me that my pharmacist never entered 1200, he only ever entered 600 and it wasn’t my plan rejecting it. Went back to the pharmacy, another pharmacist was there, she punched in 1200, it went through and voided the previous one, apologized and ordered the remainder.

In my case, the pharmacist was so convinced that a plan wouldn’t cover that many, that he wouldn’t even punch in the number into his computer, after I had specifically told him that I had cleared it with my plan. This is such a stupid situation, with no other drug would pharmacists refuse to dispense the prescribed amount, but somehow with test strips they feel they must.

My endo writes my prescription as “tests 8-10 times a day, dispense 900 strips” for the three months and there hasn’t been an issue with it. You can also ask your doctor to write the scrip a little bigger so that you can make sure you dont run out. Now for my pen needles, it was the same issue, where they came in boxes of 100, and i needed 120, so at the end of the refills available, it still said i had a partial prescription, and the pharmacy gave me an extra box of 100 to make up for the 60 that i was shorted

I have had this issue in the past as well. My insurance covers 100% of my supplies, but I must use a certain mail-order pharmacy. They are notorious for only sending 100 even though the prescription clearly says “test 5 times daily”. It is frustrating that pharmacies try to short you for strips to save $$$. It is sad, and ends up either costing the patient $$ to buy extra strips, or decreases the amount of testing one can do…

Make sure you mention this to the dr and make sure he writes it on the prescription that you are to test that much and wal mart lied to you they are supposed to follow your drs prescription not their opinion . I had this same problem with wal greens a while back and the pharmacist was rude and nasty and I went and called walgreens corporate office and they dont even care . good luck dear and yes change pharmacys .