Tricare pharmacy co--pays going up (again)

[Second Chance]

Many of you have probably already been notified or have seen news of this (per email from Tricare):

On Jan. 1, some copayments for your prescription drugs will increase. If you get your prescriptions through the TRICARE Pharmacy Home Delivery or at a retail network pharmacy, you'll pay anywhere from $2 to $7 more starting Jan. 1. Congress made this change in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018.

Rob

[RV_]

Thanks Rob! I'll keep using the base.

[jamtracy]

There goes that 1.6% cola.

[Ray,IN]

UPDATE: This is a direct copy N paste from the Express-Scripts website:

" The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year (FY) 2018 established changes to TRICARE prescription copayments every two years for the calendar years 2018 through 2027. These changes are for retail and home delivery only. There is still a $0 copayment for all formulary drugs at military pharmacies. To find out more about these changes effective January 1, 2020_____"

Edited November 14, 2019 by Ray,IN

[RV_]

That's why we use the base pharmacies here. Three major bases have full service on Base/post pharmacies here. We don't have one we can use in Cheyenne Mountain or Schriever AFB. We are using Peterson AFB which is ten minutes from our house. 

[Second Chance]

2 hours ago, RV_ said:

That's why we use the base pharmacies here. Three major bases have full service on Base/post pharmacies here. We don't have one we can use in Cheyenne Mountain or Schriever AFB. We are using Peterson AFB which is ten minutes from our house. 

VA/MTF pharmacies work for those of you that have a home base and/or stay in one or two places for longer periods. For us rolling stones, Express Scripts and Escapees mail is the option that works best. 

Rob

[RV_]

20 hours ago, Second Chance said:

VA/MTF pharmacies work for those of you that have a home base and/or stay in one or two places for longer periods. For us rolling stones, Express Scripts and Escapees mail is the option that works best. 

Rob

Rob,

I used the RV Roadie 2X2X2 travel rule. We never traveled more than 200 miles in a day, we always arrived by 2pm so we did not need reservations except for major holiday weekends, and we always stayed at least two days. The arrival day was to relax after a day driving, meet some folks and tell some lies around a campfire real or virtual. Then the next day we'd explore the area asking locals about things to see or do. Sometimes we'd stay a week when we found the unexpected or not. Of course more than two days at the national parks like Yellowstone, Glacier, Yosemite, etc. We traveled everywhere west of the Mississippi and from Mexico up to and including a season in Alaska.

We traveled totally retired and only did two or three months in our winter RV spot on family land we'd just sold along with our own 5 acre home property we'd bought when we came off the road to help our last two aging parents, my FIL and MIL.

When we were on the road for seven years fulltime, we stayed at FamCamps or near VA hospitals for the one or two week procedures. So I'd do tests or get Scripts there. But I see your point. I was 45-52 years old for the seven years we full timed. We were and are remarkably healthy. Neither of us has any medical conditions and are free of disease, no high blood pressure, no diabetes, no heart or other issues for either of us now, and then we took no recurring medication. I take 250 mg Alleve and 5 mg Flexeril for my neck and back issues from wearing out the frame some. In fact I quit drinking alcohol and smoking in 2010 because if I had a beer I'd want a cigarette, or with a bourbon or brandy or gin and ginger ale I like a cigar and cigarettes. I don't miss either. So we moved to Colorado and I'll be asking for a prescription for an edible compound with CBD to replace the Alleve, and enough THC to replace the child dose of Flexeril I take now. But not enough to get high. Why? Because the NSAID thins my blood and we bruise easier at my now 67 years young, and need no extra NSAID blood thinning. So for you, your way works, and for me missing my scrips is no crisis now, or then. I was a very healthy 45 when we started full time and only had some frame damage. Besides, I can buy generic Naproxin sodium over the counter for less than the dang co-pay. My comment wasn't suggesting everyone use the base, only those complaining about the co-pays as you can get 90 days supply at most bases because you're traveling. For us, waiting for deliveries from SKPs mail service which we had, could, and did get screwed up by the the local postal workers/Postmasters, as we had happen more than a few times.

So for this rolling stone couple when full-time, we were very young, fully retired at 45, and had nothing but some pain to alleve-iate. We'd stay a week or two at most in one place. Our newsletters that detail our constant travel to what's over the next hill or mountain is in our website below. I'm thinking about dropping it in a few years and doing a complete overhaul soon. So it may be down 1Jan 2020, because this move to Colorado took longer for me, as I was down in Louisiana keeping our 4 y/o house , steel workshop, and metal office building kept up and the property mowed. I have a very long front and back yard totaling three of the five acres and the lawn maintenance folks wanted more than $200.00 a week just to cut grass! It took five months to get it washed and manicured for sale and to sell it. So I just got here and am just now getting a new doc and records sent. So my last doc gave me a 90 day supply and I'll be registered in DEERs here next Monday/Tuesday. Still not an issue for us.

I'm just suggesting an alternative if the co-pays were affecting budget and quality of life for anyone. We use our choice of docs with TFL and no copays for docs, visits off base, scripts on base.

YMMV 😉