Where Should I Get My Prescriptions Filled? Mail Order vs Local Pharmacy

Filling a prescription seems simple until you’re faced with multiple options, insurance rules, and cost differences that aren’t always explained.

In this episode of Take Care, host Melody Mulaik answers a listener’s question: Where should I get my prescriptions filled? Melody walks through the pros and cons of local pharmacies versus mail-order prescriptions and explains how to decide based on urgency, cost, insurance coverage, and personal preference.

This episode helps you understand that there’s no one-size-fits-all answer and that you’re allowed to mix and change options as your needs evolve.

In this episode, Melody discusses:

• [00:30] Why this question is more complex than it sounds
• [01:00] In-person pharmacies: grocery store vs freestanding locations
• [01:35] The advantage of same-day and 24-hour pharmacies
• [02:00] Why access to a pharmacist matters, especially for new medications
• [02:45] Mail-order prescriptions and why they’re usually 90-day supplies
• [03:10] Cost savings and convenience of mail-order medications
• [03:45] Insurance considerations and mail-order contracts
• [04:30] Why you don’t have to choose just one option
• [05:00] How to decide what works best for your situation

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Transcript

Melody 0:11

Hello everyone and welcome back to Take Care, the podcast where we make healthcare feel clearer, easier, and more manageable. Today, we're answering a question from Chris, where should I get my prescriptions filled? And that seems like a relatively straightforward question, but I know there's a lot that goes behind it, which is why the question is being asked to begin with, right? So, you've got options of literally prescriptions being filled of options locally, but then there's also a mail order option, and which can create some questions about do I want to get it filled in person or do I want to do it through a mail-in options? And why do people do mail in prescriptions? Well, let's first start with the in-person options. And really you have two choices with that. So, many grocery stores offer a pharmacy within the store itself. Now, not every grocery store does, but there are many that do. And then you also have other pharmacies that are freestanding on their own. I'm not going to get into naming who those all are. It depends on what part of the country that you're in for specific pharmacies. And they obviously, they sell other things as well. But it's really for those, it's a matter of what's convenient for you in terms of location. What makes it easiest to get there? The other thing about going to a pharmacy in person is you get the benefit of being able to get prescriptions filled typically that day, depending on the time of day. Some even have 24 hour open pharmacies. Now not every pharmacy obviously is open 24 hours. But a lot of times, especially in larger cities, you will find certain ones that are open 24 hours to handle different types of things of people getting out of the hospital or other types of situations that arise where somebody might need to get a prescription in the middle of the night. The thing to keep in mind too with in-person pharmacies is every pharmacy will have a pharmacist on staff and available to talk to you in person. So that's a key differentiator between in-person versus mail orders. So getting your prescriptions from a local store. Again, be it a grocery store or be it a pharmacy itself, you're going to get that opportunity to be able to talk to a pharmacist, get information that you need, and get that real time help with that. Especially if it's a new prescription that you're getting and maybe you've got questions about side effects or how it might impact other drugs or medications that you're already taking. So that's a definite benefit with it. So it gets a little bit quicker. Now, mail order comes into play, typically for medications that you're going to be taking for a while that you have taken for a while because most mail orders are going to give you those prescriptions in 90 day quantities. So, you're only going to be getting those four times a year. And typically, you're going to find with mail order that the cost of those is also less expensive than going directly to a pharmacy in person. I'm not going to say that's always going to be the case, but that is typically what I've seen. Because again, those mail orders are going to be used for more of your maintenance drugs. And there's a whole lot of different types of medical conditions where you might have maintenance drugs that you might be taking for thyroid or asthma, or again, the list goes on of a lot of different maintenance drugs that we all take. And it's nice because with those mail orders, it comes directly to your house and you don't have to worry about going out every month to go get those medications. Now. There are some medications even at your local pharmacy that you can also get in 90 day quantities. So, that might be something you want to ask, even your local pharmacists that you go to in person, if you can get 90 day quantities instead of 30 day quantities. So really the decision about using mail order versus in person comes down to a few things. One is understanding what is available through your insurance, because some insurance companies offer a contract with a mail order company, and so that makes it easier to get that. Some do not, so you may find that you're getting an email or a letter or a notification from your insurance requesting or letting you know about a mail-in option. Now, keep in mind, most insurance companies are not requiring you to use a mail order option. They're just communicating that to you. I, for example, have an option to do mail order for certain drugs and I have chosen not to. Not that there's anything wrong with doing it, part of it is I just haven't made that switch, but I get all of my medications at one of my local pharmacies. But again, you might have an option. I have not seen it where they make it an absolute requirement. I think they try to do it as motivation because it's saves them money and frankly it saves you money because they've done a contract with it. So if we kind of summarize what are our options. You have a lot of options and you don't have to pick one option forever. You can switch from having something at a local pharmacy and moving that to a mail order option. You can do a combination. And I definitely see people do that as well. I see it where they'll pick certain drugs to be available at their local pharmacy and other ones to be available for mail in. So you make the decision, as long as you've got that option of mail order, option with that, take advantage of it. It saves you money, it saves you time. But again, if you need something more urgently, you want to be able to communicate with your pharmacist directly, get those questions answered. Then the in-person is going to be a better option for you. So, either way, you're making a great step by staying informed and choosing what works best for you. Thank you for listening to this episode of take care. Until next time. And until then, take care.