Yea, you caught me… “Transferring your prescription during a PCS” is not a word. However, it is a aggregating phrase to hear during an already aggregating time of a PCS.
Here’s my story- two months ago I called Tricare and then Express Scripts regarding our families growing list of prescriptions. I was informed “it’s a piece of cake!” And to not worry about it until we have moved and settled down. Ok, so I tried to let go and live with God (a phrase my mom used to say). Flash forward to this past Friday when I ran out of two medications. I quickly called our local pharmacy in town. They informed me I needed to do a transfer of all my prescriptions. Huh? The issue I ran into is I ran out of my prescription while visiting family and before we reach our new duty station. I need to transfer my prescriptions from a military pharmacy to a civilian one.
However, to further the issue, the pharmacy doesn’t take Tricare. Apparently two years ago Walgreens lost the Army contract to take Tricare and has been fighting ever since to gain it back. So I had to call the next pharmacy in line; CVS. CVS takes Tricare for your information.
I dialed up CVS and explained my situation. They were happy to have my business. Then I realized the next hurdle. I needed my medication before I went out of town for two days. I thought if I’d transfer my prescriptions to one CVS, I could pick them up at any location. Guess again. Maybe I am naive. Nevertheless, I had to wait until we returned to town TODAY to pick up my medication. For two reasons 1) you can’t pick up your refill at just any location and 2) most military pharmacies aren’t open on the weekends. So when you call on a Friday trying to get a prescriptions transferred, you need to allow for 24 hours before pick up.
So learn this lesson from me- once you arrive at your new destination; call and have your prescription transferred before you run out of medication.