How am I supposed to have extra prescription drugs on hand

in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack when my insurance company will only give me a 30 day supply? Just try picking up the refill on Day 26. It doesn't matter if that's when it's convenient for you or not. No refills before day 27!

If so, you can get three months' worth at a time. That's what I do.

....does mail order and can only get one month at a time. Maybe it's different for different carriers?

Cheers

what she was talking about so I asked the pharmacist. They said there are a few carriers who do it. However since I am paying for my insurance a month at a time via Cobra, I thought it was a ridiculous suggestion to ask if they would give me 3 months worth of a really expensive drug now, before I have paid for the premium on the next 2 months insurance.

I work for an HR consulting firm, and the mail order programs for almost all of our clients, if not all of them, allow you to order three months' worth of prescriptions at a time for less than what three separate prescriptions would be.

I'll have my sister double check, it would be great if she could get extra....she's on steroids for Addision's Disease and without a backup she's in serious trouble.

Cheers

I wouldn't be surprised if that was true of steroids, but she should check.

The body's production of such steroids is suppressed by the therapeutic dosage, so gradual withdrawal is necessary to allow the body to increase its own production.

So, the danger of running out isn't just the exacerbation of the condtion being treated but also includes steroid withdrawal problems - which can surpass the condition being treated in severity.

It also makes me crazy that the govt says in the case of a pandemic that schools will be closed for three months so be sure to have two weeks of food on hand. That would put people out there looking for food at the peak of a wave. Purely idiotic.

'Course, those who live hand-to-mouth are not included in any worse case survival scenario :sarcasm:

Bag of rice, bag of beans and some canned veggies or fruit.
This can be done on even the most limited budget.

Beans and rice are a great form of protein.
Peaut butter, canned salmon.
Just a few items a week add up to a fairly good stash
if you do it consistently.
Enough to get you through in the event of
a crisis.

BHN

you say, "This can be done on even the most limited budget."

Well, no it can't. The "most limited" budget is one that doesn't
buy enough to eat TODAY, and lots of people are in that position
after six years of Bushenomics.

Not everyone can afford EXTRA- many can't even afford ENOUGH.

a bag of rice one payday, a bag of beans another. The more people who do do this leaves more resources available for those that can't when a big emergency happens.

Odds are, our little "stashes" aren't just going to help
US survive an emergency, they'll help our friends and neighbors
who were already just scraping by.

History shows that the most important aspect of long-term
emergency survival is TEAMWORK.

But what you say is closer to reality.
I've been stashing since the last big earthquake
here in California. I was a single mom then and
our budget was pretty slim, so I bought less of some
things so I could buy extra of others.
I guess that is not a successful strategy these days.
Sigh.
BHN

And if the shit ever hits the fan, we use what we have
to help our neighbors.

Hoarding and a "bunker mentality" are NOT good ways to
approach an emergency situation. Networking and mutual
cooperation give the best odds for the largest possible
number of people to survive any long-term hardship.

this past December, when the Puget Sound area was hit by a Cat 3 hurricane -- oops, "windstorm". (Let's just say that the internal information coming out of the largest power company in the region called it a "hurricane", which I notice has NOT hit the media.) Our power was out for a week. We are lucky enough to have a pantry area in our laundry room, and we live in a very rural area. I would purchase a few cans extra of this or that every time I went shopping, and as a result, we had enough to eat. It wasn't fancy, but it did the job.

Truly: If you'd like to help others who may not be as well-off or fortunate, please purchase some of the above in BHN's post and take them to your local food bank. They're not fancy, but they'll help someone who needs sustenance in a disaster, especially the peanut butter.

Julie

For those who can afford to buy a bit more each week and stash.

We have a Third World population in this country.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0908-06.htm

That must be allowable, yes?

I know it's dishonest but I would rather be dishonest about my pills and live than be honest and die.

the doc gave us a prescription right away. We had to pay for them but at least I knew he had his meds no matter what.

and if I do run out I go into withdrawals
I won't wish on anyone, except maybe Smirky and Snarl

problems already, and I take a bunch of meds.

1) call your prescription drug plan and see if they have a mailing service, it's silly, but the mailing service will send you 90 days worth of drugs (unless they are scheduled such as painkillers, marinol etc)

2) in the event of a disaster, most drug outlets will be providing free renewals/replacements of Rx if katrina is any guide, i am a paranoid hurricane preparer and had a 90 day supply w. me but those who did not in my evacuation area (eastern tennessee) were provided with FREE replacement drugs (again, scheduled drugs not included)

i don't know what you can do if you have chronic pain, i think you are fucked, but otherwise they will get the drugs to you

stay well!

My doctor absolutely loathes the insurance companies. Yet he must live with them.

:shrug:

ten months you should have that extra one month supply!

see? piece of cake!

...while I was in college, I worked as an RX tech. The trick we used to tell people so they could get more than one month's worth at a time (to get around the insurance companies who insist on practicing medicine)was to have the Dr write the script with the instructions "take as directed."

People could then get 100 pills at a time instead of the standard 28 day supply. I'm not sure if this would still work....

Cheers

my prescriptions and I get enough for a whole year all at once! He also writes, for example, take 3 x a day--even though I usually take only one a day.

plus on tablets that can be split he orders them at double the dose I usually take so that I can cut them and end up with twice the supply.

it's a hell of a lot cheaper there too

although I can get 60 days' worth because I'm on two different dosages on alternating days. I've wondered about this when they say to stock up.

:sarcasm:

our HMO says "just for one month."

I hate mangled healthcare.

I hate having to get my primary care guy to refer me to specialists.