Marrying into the military brought about a lot of “first times” for me, and as a planner, I struggled to navigate through all the unknowns. My husband and I lived apart for the first bit of our marriage, and I had to sort through “adulting”, married life, and army wife life on my own. One thing that took some time (and tears) was switching my medication over. I know it sounds ridiculous, but charting through healthcare waters alone was confusing, especially without a trusty “how to”.
Now that I am a married woman, I am on the lovely Tricare plan. YAY! Although the insurance is amazing, trying to enroll and switch over my medications while not living on a base was not so amazing.
This message is for all y’all that have Tricare and will NOT be getting your prescriptions from a military base pharmacy. Stick with me here!
Step 1: Enroll in DEERS
Before you can enroll in Tricare, you must first be recognized by the military as your spouse’s formal dependent. (I know, I don’t love the word dependent either) Once you are married, you will need to go to your local military office with your spouse and take your ID and marriage certificate. The military office will then input your information into their system and provide you with your very own military ID card. Yay! It is official. This card will dual as your Tricare insurance card and can be presented at your doctor’s office, as well as the information on the card will be needed in order to set up your prescriptions.
If this step seems too easy, it really is. Once you have your military ID card, this enrolls you into DEERS, which means you are automatically enrolled into Tricare. Now, onto the fun part of switching over your medications!
Step 2: Review Your Options
Although local pharmacies can fill your prescriptions for you, using Tricare’s affiliate, Express Scripts, will be much easier and cheaper for you.
If you live on a base or close to a base, have your prescriptions filled at the military pharmacy located on the base. These will be completely free for you. If you do not have this option due to not living near a base (like myself), you can either go through Express Scripts (this is what you want to do), or you can have your prescriptions sent to a local pharmacy in your area.
The following is a breakdown of the cost based upon type of pharmacy choice and type of medication being received:
1. On-Base Pharmacy: $0
2. Home Delivery via Express Scripts: $10/90 day supply for generic prescriptions, $29/90 day supply for brand name prescriptions
3. Retail (Local Pharmacies): $13/30 day supply for generic prescriptions, $33/30 day supply for brand name prescription
***A prescription can only be filled twice at a retail location before you are then required to receive the medication through Express Scripts Home Delivery. If you receive a medication for the third time at a retail pharmacy, you will be required to pay the cost of the medication. Tricare will not cover the cost.***
Tricare.mil is a great website to further look into specifics based upon your location, your coverage, and your types of medications.
Step 3: Enroll in Express Scripts
Now that you have your DEERS card that has enrolled you into Tricare, it is now time to enroll with Express Scripts so that you can begin to receive your medications. Make sure that you specifically go to Express Scripts Military at militaryrx.express-scripts.com in order to properly enroll. Tricare members have a separate Express Scripts provider, and it is important that you are directly dealing with this team!
If you are a first time user, select “register”. You will then enter your personal information, your DEERS information (found on your military ID), and create a username and password.
Step 4: Have Medications Sent to Express Scripts
Now that you are enrolled into Express Scripts, it is finally time to have your doctor send your prescriptions to them. These prescription refill requests can either be faxed by your doctor to 877.895.1900, or they can be e-scribed (your doctor will know what this is) to Express Scripts Tricare in St. Louis. Your doctor will need to include the following information in order for your prescription to properly be filled, your full name, date of birth, address, phone number, and military ID number. Express Scripts also suggests that your doctor specify 90 day prescriptions with 4 refills. This will save you time and money in the long run!
Once Express Scripts receives the refill request for the prescription from your doctor, they will automatically ship you the first prescription within five days. You do not need to contact them to have the initial shipment sent unless you have already received a refill within the past 30 days.
For future orders, you have the capability of manually ordering the prescription each month or setting up autofill. This can be completed on the website or through the app. If you opt for autofill, the prescription will auto send seven days prior to your last dosage. I would highly suggest setting up 90 day supplies on autofill. This has been incredibly helpful for me, as I have Express Scripts automatically charge my credit card, send out the prescription, and I do not have to hassle with it each month.
Payments for prescriptions can then be made one of three ways. You can send them snail mail with a check to cover your medications, or you can place a credit card on file. Your card information can be uploaded through the website, and you can opt to have your card auto charged when the prescription ships, or you can manually make payments within 60 days of receiving your prescription.
Pro Tips
Tip 1: Make sure you specify to your doctor that your medication request needs to be sent to Express Scripts TRICARE. If they just send it to Express Scripts, this goes to an entirely different department, and your prescription request will not go through. Trust me, I know from experience.
Tip 2: Get the Express Scripts app! It is super helpful and easy to navigate. I love being able to track the status of my prescriptions, and it provides real time updates about orders that have processed, are being shipped, and when they are expected to arrive.
Tip 3: If you do need extra help (I 100% needed extra assistance due to my situation), call Express Scripts Tricare at 866.759.6139. They have some of the most helpful representatives I have ever worked with.
I hope this step-by-step serves all of you new military spouses well!
XOXO,
Abbey Rose