I've been a customer at this Safeway pharmacy several years off and on, but kept coming back because it's convenient and I had a cordial relationship with most of the pharmacy staff. I took a break for most of last year due to going mail-order for a new insurance and also because one tech, Pauline, was just totally rude and lazy. I said nothing to the Manager at the time, thinking it was just a one-off bad experience or just a bad tech, easily avoided.
When I have a bad experience with a restaurant, I usually wait a long time before coming back, to see if the experience will improve with new staff, new mgmt, better suppliers, etc. Usually it works, unless the experience is *so* bad that I don't want to give them another chance at all. So I applied the same reasoning to Safeway's pharmacy, attempting to fill 2 asthma scripts only this year.
For those in the Yelposphere that don't know this - Medicare Part D usually covers prescriptions; Part B, doctors' appointments and medical devices; AND the prescriptions used in conjunction with medical devices. Like asthma nebulizers and the solutions used in them. Safeway is a Part B pharmacy - not all are - and I have successfully filled nebulizer prescriptions here previously with no issue.
This time, though, I got a lot of excuses and outright lies about how the scripts needed a Part B vs. Part D determination from Medicare; and how there was a lengthy approval process; the Medicare rules had changed, etc. It *was* true the paper script my doctor gave me didn't have all the information on it, which probably *did* cause them extra work & heartburn, for which I apologized. But I called Medicare, and there was no question about it - both scripts were covered under Medicare Part B - NO quantity limits as those are only for scripts under Part D.
The Medicare rep said medicine is dispensed *exactly* the way the doctor writes it on the script.. So I should have then gotten the 90-day supply he'd written; not something that will last only 1 & 1/2 months because the techs decided to substitute mLs for total quantity. There was no need for them to interpret *anything* and divide total doses by mLs. Just like there was no need for a Part B vs. D determination.
I have no clue why they chose to make filling my prescriptions harder than it needed to be; or why they thought lying to me about Medicare guidelines was ok. It's not; and to her credit, the Store Manager agreed with me when I called to file a complaint. She even understood how bad it it to mess with an asthmatic's medicines, having a relative with the health condition. It's just one of those conditions where you *must* have your medicines, right when you need them; and a ready supply. You just don't have the breath - literally- to jump through hoops or fix anyone's mistake about your medicine. Doing so could actually cost you your life - it's that serious.
I had a doctor pull the same kind of disgusting patient abuse one time several years ago - she didn't want to take Medicare anymore and was probably trying to phase her Medicare patients out. But instead of just telling me that I needed to find a new doctor, she made getting medical care Hell on Earth until I had a big blow-out with her and never came back. And I left a bad review on Yelp, to warn other Medicare patients away.
So I'm sorry to say that I think the same thing has happened here, only this time with a pharmacy. I have no proof that Safeway is or isn't going to stop being a Part B pharmacy provider, but bad treatment about said Part B prescriptions gives me a pretty good idea that I'm right to run for the door at this place! And no matter what their problem *really* is; it's not mine; or mine to solve. read more