Pharmacy FAQ | blueSky

Q. How much can members save using this benefit?
A. Prices will always vary on prescription drugs and therefore it is impossible to estimate specific dollar savings through any non-insured drug program. The membership offers two avenues for drug purchases: The Neighborhood Pharmacy program offers 10 to 50% discounts on acute care medications and the Mail Order Pharmacy guarantees an average of 10% off AARP's prices. Should a member receive a price quote from a retail location in the United States for less than our mail order pharmacy quote, we will beat it by a minimum of $5.00 on brand name and generic medications priced at $10.00 or more with no postage or dispensing fees added. Savings cannot be used in conjunction with other discount or insurance cards.

Q. Will members receive a discount on every Neighborhood Pharmacy drug when utilizing the pharmacy benefit?
A. Not necessarily. Drug stores, like hardware and grocery stores determine their own pricing structures. Due to large discounts from manufacturers, some drugs may already be priced at or below the PBM's discount price. However, as a general rule, members can expect that 80% to 90% of the required, acute-care prescription needs will be discounted below the stores usual retail price. The PBM network pharmacies have agreed to sell prescription drugs at the contract price, or their "usual retail price" whichever is lower.

Q. Are there any instances where a member may not receive any savings?
A. Local pharmacies are specifically designed to save members money on acute care medication. Most pharmacies use long-term, maintenance medications as "loss leaders" and price these drugs at or below cost. They do this so that their customers will assume that all their prices are low. It's a marketing strategy. The pharmacy realizes that for long-term medications, the consumer will shop around in order to get the best price for a medication that they may be taking for the rest of their life. They are led to believe that this pharmacy has low prices on all their prescription drugs and other items. Our pharmacy program has contracted with independent and chain pharmacies nationwide to offer a discounted price that will normally save you 10% to 50% on short term medications. However, in order to draw customers, many pharmacies opt to price their prescriptions lower than the contracted price. In this case, the member will receive the lower of the two prices. Normally, they use high profile maintenance drugs for these "loss leader" price reductions such as Prozac, Zantac, and Premarin. In order to guarantee members a savings, we established a mail order pharmacy program which absolutely, positively guarantees to beat any verifiable retail price by a minimum of $5.00 with no dispensing or postage fees added provided the brand or generic price exceeds $10.00.

Q. What if the pharmacist is not familiar with the benefit?
A. When visiting a participating pharmacy, the member must show their membership card to receive the savings. The pharmacist will identify the program when they see the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Information on the card.

Q. Is this a co-pay insurance card?
A. No. A co-pay card is an insured product where the customer pays a preset amount and the insurance company pays the remainder. This membership is a discount card offering reduced prices. Members are responsible to pay the pharmacy 100% of the discounted price.

Q. A member calls the Mail Order Pharmacy to get a price quote on a maintenance drug and it exceeds the price they previously paid for at an old pharmacy. What should they do?
A. If the Mail Order Pharmacy quote does not beat the price the member is currently paying by at least $5.00, the operator will verify the price being charged at the local pharmacy and beat it by $5.00. This outstanding price guarantee is effective for all brand or generic drugs priced over $10.00.

*The $5.00 guaranteed savings cannot be used in conjunction with other discount or insurance cards