I've been going to CVS/ Target pharmacies for the past 7 yrs - until just this yr, they started pulling this weird customer quota thing for people that have Schedule II (narcotic/ opioid) Rx thing. Apparently, they can only fill so many per month & if you are one of the last (of the month) customers to bring your prescriptions & they already reached their limit on how many Schedule II Rx they filled for that month - you now have go around town to either find a CVS pharmacy that hasn't hit their quota number yet. Really?!!! How utterly ridicous - and Ive been going there for many years (every single month) before CVS even bought them out. It doesn't matter what brand drug you get, its just the fact that its a narcotic - which people like me that are in pain mgt/ palliative care for the rest of my life (bc drs don't want to go anywhere near someone like me with a rare disease that wreaks havoc), are wholly dependant on, just to have any resemblance of the slightest bit of quality of life. So since my monthly dr appts arent until the end of the month, CVS can very easily leave me hi & dry- unable to fill my very expensive scripts. I need a pharmacy I can depend on every month - even if I have to wait a few days for them to fill it, its all about being able to rely on them just being able to do it. As a note for others, Walgreens is the same - if not WORSE, and Walmart (who I went to next) tells me they dont pull the CVS nonsense, BUT if they dont have a certsin drug in that store's stock - THEY HAVE NO IDEA/ WAY OF KNOWING IF THEY CAN EVEN GET IT!?! What?!!! Apparently for Schedule II drugs (if not others), they CANNOT lookup to see what drugs are in stock/ available from their main warehouse - AND they cannot order the drugs themselves - so its anybody's guess as to whether or not they can even fill your prescriptions at all. They can put the order in & then everybody needs to wait & see - which means if they can't, you're stuck in a lurch at the END OF THE MONTH to scramble to find someone who can (if its not the same scenario as Wlmt or CVS/ Walgreens) AND youre about to go into the next month - for insurance purposes, which is another huge mess you dont need bc you lose that month's coverage (which is important when you have tiered copays, donought holes, etc). NIGHTMARE? ABSOLUTELY!!!
ENTER BASHA'S - what a God send! I had once spoken to my local Basha's pharmacist, who was just as baffled by all these crazy things going on at other local big pharmacies. Need dependable without any of the insanely pointless headaches? Basha's is just that. If in their system (which most are), and a drug doesnt happen to be in stock on their shelves - Basha's puts orders in every day, receiving most requests by the following day... and if that's not great enough as it is, their prices beat even the biggest pharmacies that tought that their prices cant be beat! I only wish I had fone to Basha's from the start!!! My drugs cost me between $4,000 - 6,000 a year - not exactly cheap, and on SSD, every penney I can save is a blessing. One of my most expensive drugs usually retails at about $1200/ month - with my Pt D insurance, the cheapest Ive gotten it at this stage in the tier was $368 - 400... BASHA'S COST with my Pt D insurance, just came in a little over $100 CHEAPER than my lowest ever cost! Every other of my 4 monthly drugs came in at least $20 - $40 a month CHEAPER as well - how can you beat that?!!!
It not only the fact that they're actually saving me close to hundreds every month, but my local Basha's pharmacist is the nicest guy ever Very courteous, personable & so pleasant to talk to (even when I stray slightly off topic) - with a lot of in depth knowledge to answer even my most complex questions. At the OTHER pharmacies Ive gone to for a long time, my more than valid questions were always met with a challenge, major attitude, overall snippy-ness & condescending demeanor. I once asked about having my Rx electronically sent (when all pharmacies were beginning to accept) & actually was told by my dr that he knew one pharmacies in their chain was taking them - I was read the RIOT ACT about how that pharmacist didn't go to school & extensive training, just to lose their license because of me... Really?! The very next month, all their store pharmacies were advertising that they accepting electronic Rx's. When the same pharmacist was having a little issue getting the very same Rx Ive gotten through them for the past 11 yrs, that same person literally told me to get over it & choose a different Rx (which wasn't a possibility bc there's no comparable types of the same drug. What others slightly work the same way, have very serious allergic issues for me, (like swelling my throat shut!) - which btw, was on my account's allergic list!
Basha's is hands down, the perfect business model (as well as bedside manner), that ALL other pharmacies should be following as their guideline! read more
