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Time has come for TRICARE Beneficiaries to Move their Maintenance Drugs out of Retail

  • Published
  • By TRICARE.mil Staff
  • Communications Division, Defense Health Agency
FALLS CHURCH, Va. --  

This December, TRICARE beneficiaries can take action to avoid paying more for some prescription drugs. If you fill a prescription for a select brand name maintenance drug at a retail pharmacy, you may need to move your prescription to either a military pharmacy or TRICARE Pharmacy Home Delivery. If not, you may have to pay full cost of your prescription.

 Beneficiaries can move their prescriptions by contacting the TRICARE pharmacy contactor, Express Scripts (ESI) at 1-877-363-1303 or by using ESI’s secure online portal.

If you are an active duty service member, live overseas, or if you have other prescription drug coverage, and can continue using retail pharmacies with no changes to your current copays.

The new rule began October 1, 2015, but allows you to get two 30-day refills of an affected drug from a retail pharmacy. For many, those two refills will run out in December and their next prescription refill needs to be through Home Delivery or at a military pharmacy.

If you’re taking an affected drug, you should have received several notifications from ESI. You can also check by calling ESI at 1-877-363-1303.

TRICARE Pharmacy Home Delivery is a safe, convenient and low cost option to get maintenance drugs. You’ll save up to $176 a year for each brand name drug you switch from retail to Home Delivery. If you want to use a military pharmacy, make sure to check first to see if they carry your prescription.

For more information about this change to TRICARE’s pharmacy benefit, visit www.tricare.mil/RxNewRules. If you are interested in learning more about the TRICARE pharmacy benefit, you can also listen to the upcoming TRICARE pharmacy webinar, featuring Dr. George Jones, chief of Pharmacy Operations at the Defense Health Agency. Tune in on Wednesday, December 9 at 12 PM, EST. The webinar does not require prior registration.

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