Meds on the road.

[JDsdogs]

When traveling for more than a short period of time, how do you handle prescription medications?
My wife and I would like to do more long term traveling. We rarely stay in one place for more than a few days. However, both of us require medication for our conditions. We are wondering how other experienced travelers handle prescription medication issues the road.
One of our issues involves a med that is delivered to our home refrigerated by Fedex.
The other of meds that need to be refilled on the road as well.

[Cristian123]

We faced this issue. My wife needs to take meds that should be stored in the refrigerator. When we were going to travel for a long period of time, her doctor kindly agreed to give her a prescription to a bigger dose than usual. So, my wife ordered her meds, I also decided to Buy rybelsus and insulin in advance. We bought a little insulated travel cooler, packed our meds and an ice pack, and extra zip lock bags for ice there. By the way, if you are going to travel by plane, it may also be useful to include the box or container your medication arrives in with your name and prescription information in case the TSA requests to see it.

[down_home]

VA cal them and they will ship to where you are. Also like Edd505 said they will fill most meds for 90 days.
Wife now gets hers through CHAMP VA same pharmacy.The fill all her meds 90days at a time.
When she was getting hers though insurance where she worked and later Medicare supplement they only had certain pharmacies in the network.CVS They would fill only 30 days at a time, and she could get a medication filled one me out of home area. Next refill would require a new script there and when she got home. Really put a crimp in traveling for more than month after she retired.I kept telling her she could get them through the VA for several years.She could also have enrolled in VA and go her meds and if she wished, medical care at VA until she retired and went on Medicare including dental which she really needed and cost tn out of pocket and it would have continued.Wouldn't listen.

[Edd505]

I get meds through the VA. I can go to the open pharmacy tell them I am leaving for a couple months, they give me a 90 day supply. If I run out I can look for the nearest VA and go in for refiles.

[OkieGene]

Leave your existing insurance and meds and pharmacy relationship as a going concern, don't mess with it.

There is another way to get sufficient meds to augment or supplement your existing situation.

Depending on your meds, Costco Pharmacy sells them at a low price, and Costco also accepts GoodRx to lower the cost further.

A 90 day from your regular pharmacy, a 90 day from Costco, BOOM! You've got a 6 month supply.

I just asked my Doc for a duplicate script for me to carry into Costco and just paid cash for the meds.

Simple and easy peace of mind.

[Johno02]

All of the above are right, we use Walmart for most as most of the places we have traveled have a walmart somewhere pretty close. However, some states, in our case New York, allow a prescription transfer into the state, but only one time, and then it cannot be transferred to any other state. We had to call our Doctor and have a new script faxed to the store where we were. Then 90 days later, we had it transferred to where we were. So you might need to check before having a script trnsferred.

[Reader1]

We have mail prescriptions but nothing that needs refrigeration. We do get ours on a 90 day basis. Before we leave on a trip, no matter how long, I put daily meds in a container that separates by days for both of us. Most of our meds are taken once a day. One cannot be taken with the rest, and I keep that separate. It works well for us.

[lenr]

90 day prescriptions generally require the Dr to write a 90 day script. You don't need to do mail order to get a 90 day fill. It is the insurance companies that set the amount of time that a script may be filled early. We have used GoodRx and Kroger Savings Club to fill ahead of schedule, and just did for 4 months away. It cost a little more in co-pays--a convenience cost for us. Any drug store will transfer from another regardless of whether they are in the same company or not. But you will then have to transfer back. The chains like CVS or Walmart probably make that easier.

[wanderingaimles]

First step is to verify/request that your provider set up 90 day supplies, at least on the non refrigerated meds.
Then switch the refrigerated one to a large chain that can fill anywhere nationwide.
I have 90 day supplies sent to Dakota Post a month before I need them and then have them forwarded when its convenient for me.

[Janss]

Our prescription insurance is specifically with CVS. We can get 90-day prescriptions either by mail or at any CVS store. We have a local CVS, and most often while traveling we try to find a CVS store. But before we leave for 3-4 months, we have been able to get a "vacation override" from the insurance company to get prescriptions filled earlier than scheduled, before we take off on a trip. Our local CVS store first tries to fill the Rx, it gets kicked back as too soon to fill, then either the store or we call the insurance company to request a vacation override telling them we'll be gone traveling for such-and-such length of time. I think we can only do this vacation override a certain number of times a year, like maybe twice.

[valhalla360]

Does your insurance mandate filling long term prescriptions thru the mail order pharmacy?

If not, just pick a national chain and have your doctor send the prescription to the nearest one when you need a refill.

[pigman1]

The Walmarts or just about any other pharmacy chain can get prescriptions in their system forwarded to just about any of their stores that have a pharmacist. Of course that only works when you have one of their stores close by. For example in Valdez, AK, the nearest WM or other chain drug stores is only 285 miles close. Also, Canada will present some real problems. We use Express Scripts and get our 90 day renewals just before leaving. That requires some planning, but we've been doing it since 2006.

[Yosemite_Sam1]

Have your prescriptions filled by Walmart pharmacy.

Since they have a national network, you can ask for a refill from their nearest branch. You have to call though first so they can verify it from the store where you have been getting your meds.

[bdpreece]

We switched to using a mail order pharmacy. We then just have our meds sent to general delivery at a post office near where we are or are going to be. It is a good idea though to call the post office and verify the general delivery options. Never had a problem doing this. With your refrigeration needs though you would have to time it pretty close.

[dedmiston]

I've had good luck working with my doctor and pharmacy to get bulk meds when we're going out of town. The tricky part is getting insurance to approve it. I finally worked with HR to switch over to Express Scripts to get 90 day supplies of all my meds.

You'll probably need more coordination that most because of your refrigerated meds. I would call your insurance in advance and request them to work with you to switch the FedEx delivery. This means you won't be able to travel spontaneously though, because you'll need to be in an exact location when they ship.