Walgreens New Policies

BrokeDown

Senior Member
Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
299
Location
Fort Myers, FL
We have been full timing for 8+ years and up until now have not had a problem using Walgreens. But, they have new policies that will affect us all.

We own a RV lot in Fort Myers, FL and spend the winters on our lot. We consider our lot to be our primary residence for our doctors, drivers license, insurance, voter registration, paychecks, etc. And like many fulltimers, we travel to different parts of the USA during the warm/hurricane season.

All of our doctors are in or near Fort Myers. My wife went to our regular Fort Myers Walgreens to pick up her medicine. The counter person asked why she is using a doctor in Bonita Springs, FL. The counter person said that her doctor needs to send the prescription to a pharmacy that is close to the doctor's location.

Also, my wife has diabetes, and takes Monjaro. Walgreens said that they have a new policy saying that she can only pick up one month of Monjaro at a time.... even though her insurance covers 3 months at a time.

I am sure you can see where I am going with this. What are we supposed to do when we are spending the summer in Colorado or someplace other than FT Myers?

Has anyone else experienced these new policies?

-B
 
We spoke to the store manager, she confirmed the new policies. We have a call into corporate to get their read on the situation.

-B
 
I know for awhile... there was a shortage of diabetic medicines due to all the "over-weight" folks taking them for weight loss as prescribed by their doctors. In some cases my diabetic wife would have to call in her prescription a month in advance of her actual available pickup date (at CVS) just to ensure she could get it on time. Still does BTW.

Maybe due to demand, Walgreens is limiting quantities?

Note: I can certainly understand the need for the extreme over weight folks.... but it should never come at the expense of a diabetic patient!
 
It looks like Walgreens is up to some shady stuff.


It seems that companies like Walgreens would use AI to police their stores.... not make the customers jump through hoops by creating policies that are designed to prevent lawsuits.

-B
 
They are also having financial difficulties and staff shortages in many locations. Anthem just tried to limit the amount of anesthesia doctors can administer (and get re-imbursed for) so I'm sure some of this is being directed by the Medicare Advantage insurance companies. Walgreens is no longer a preferred pharmacy for the Anthem retiree policy with which they are 'encouraging' mail order to a company - owned by Anthem.

There is also a potential buyout in the works for Walgreens which would take themselves private.
 
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Safeway Grocery Store Pharmacy has a similar policy, one month supply at a time but the pharmacist told me that on occasion, when we're going to be on the road two or three months at a time to just let time know and they'll arrange to provide additional medication before we depart. Perhaps Walgreens too can make similar accommodations.
 
What does this have to do with Grand Design
We are full-time with a GD trailer and use the same pharmacy so this is for sure appropriate "Where grand Design Owners Meet Online" as stated in the title of the forum.
If it does not apply to you why not just scroll on by......
 
They are also having financial difficulties and staff shortages in many locations. Anthem just tried to limit the amount of anesthesia doctors can administer (and get re-imbursed for) so I'm sure some of this is being directed by the Medicare Advantage insurance companies. Walgreens is no longer a preferred pharmacy for the Anthem retiree policy with which they are 'encouraging' mail order to a company - owned by Anthem.

There is also a potential buyout in the works for Walgreens which would take themselves private.
I wouldn't doubt a bad policy.

Inept company. I did contract IT work for their HQ in Lincolnshire, Illinois years ago.

example ..... I could show offboarded employees still having access.
 
We have been full timing for 8+ years and up until now have not had a problem using Walgreens. But, they have new policies that will affect us all.

We own a RV lot in Fort Myers, FL and spend the winters on our lot. We consider our lot to be our primary residence for our doctors, drivers license, insurance, voter registration, paychecks, etc. And like many fulltimers, we travel to different parts of the USA during the warm/hurricane season.

All of our doctors are in or near Fort Myers. My wife went to our regular Fort Myers Walgreens to pick up her medicine. The counter person asked why she is using a doctor in Bonita Springs, FL. The counter person said that her doctor needs to send the prescription to a pharmacy that is close to the doctor's location.

Also, my wife has diabetes, and takes Monjaro. Walgreens said that they have a new policy saying that she can only pick up one month of Monjaro at a time.... even though her insurance covers 3 months at a time.

I am sure you can see where I am going with this. What are we supposed to do when we are spending the summer in Colorado or someplace other than FT Myers?

Has anyone else experienced these new policies?

-B
This type of attitude is why Walgreens are slowly going out of business...I think they closed a number of locations in 2024. I suggest that you just change the prescription to WalMart or CVS and be done with it.
 
One year ago our prescription drug provider changed their policy similar to what's described above. We used to be able to pick up a 3m supply from Walgreens. Now it's only 1m at a time for pick up. This wasn't a Walgreens specific change - came from our provider. Now for a 3m supply, it must be mail ordered (it's cheaper too). It does mean we have to plan ahead and have the 3m supply shipped to where we'll be. Or, we'll just send it to our PMB and have sent when we can. It's not that difficult and actually saves us some money.

One more thing, our provider allows a "once-a-year" vacation filling so we can have extras on-hand as a buffer. The OP might want to investigate that.
 
One year ago our prescription drug provider changed their policy similar to what's described above. We used to be able to pick up a 3m supply from Walgreens. Now it's only 1m at a time for pick up. This wasn't a Walgreens specific change - came from our provider. Now for a 3m supply, it must be mail ordered (it's cheaper too). It does mean we have to plan ahead and have the 3m supply shipped to where we'll be. Or, we'll just send it to our PMB and have sent when we can. It's not that difficult and actually saves us some money.

One more thing, our provider allows a "once-a-year" vacation filling so we can have extras on-hand as a buffer. The OP might want to investigate that.
Yep, exactly what i just went through. It wasnt Walgreens per say, it was the insurance company. As, i would be able to buy out of pocket, but no more than one month at a time per insurance. Right from the pharmacist.
 
We have been full timing for 8+ years and up until now have not had a problem using Walgreens. But, they have new policies that will affect us all.

We own a RV lot in Fort Myers, FL and spend the winters on our lot. We consider our lot to be our primary residence for our doctors, drivers license, insurance, voter registration, paychecks, etc. And like many fulltimers, we travel to different parts of the USA during the warm/hurricane season.

All of our doctors are in or near Fort Myers. My wife went to our regular Fort Myers Walgreens to pick up her medicine. The counter person asked why she is using a doctor in Bonita Springs, FL. The counter person said that her doctor needs to send the prescription to a pharmacy that is close to the doctor's location.

Also, my wife has diabetes, and takes Monjaro. Walgreens said that they have a new policy saying that she can only pick up one month of Monjaro at a time.... even though her insurance covers 3 months at a time.

I am sure you can see where I am going with this. What are we supposed to do when we are spending the summer in Colorado or someplace other than FT Myers?

Has anyone else experienced these new policies?

-B
We had this problem at a Walmart in 2022. I had my doc appointment the day before we traveled. Went to Walmart the next day after setting up and they told me it needed to be filled in the same county. I wasnt going to drive 4 hours back. They also would not give me the written prescription back. My doc would not fax in a new script. I had to go to an urgent care to get a one month prescription every month until I set up a new primary in another state. This was blood pressure medication. I just went to Mexico to pick up more meds without prescription, 3 months worth.
 
We are full-timers as well. My wife just went through the same thing with Walmart on her Mounjaro prescription; driven by the insurance company drug plan (ExpressScripts). She’s diabetic, and even though they approved coverage for a year, they will allow only one month at a time - unless you order directly from ExpressScripts. I take several meds, and because of the insurance company, my refills are all over the board; I used to be able to get 90-day supply on everything. We went to Walmart because they’re really good about filling prescriptions wherever we are at the time. Sorry to hear that Walgreens has adopted this policy, but it appears to be driven more by insurance companies trying to implement managed care.
Just my .02 worth…
 

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