My CVS Specialty experiences are certainly “special”
My insurance requires me to use CVS Specialty Pharmacy for my biologic medications. If you’re using CVS Specialty Pharmacy, I can only imagine you’re in a similar situation. I would not use them by choice. I’ve put up with a lot of incompetence from them only because I have no choice—I can’t take my business elsewhere when I’d pay $5000 per month for my medication without insurance. And since they’ve got a captive customer base, CVS Specialty doesn’t ever have to improve anything.
To summarize my review of CVS Specialty Pharmacy, they are dangerously slow, convoluted, and apathetic. This is based on my experience with unreturned phone calls, delayed prescription processing, moved delivery dates, and more.
It’s the powerlessness of my position that has finally brought me to write this. Without any kind of patient organization, there’s no way of knowing how many others are facing these kinds of issues. Let’s talk about it! I would love to hear about people’s experiences with CVS Specialty, or advice that helps get results from them. In the meantime, it feels like I can fill a book with my own experiences.
The mythical returned call
The first and most important thing I learned when dealing with CVS Specialty is that they never call back when they say they will.
I say that this is most important because in order for me to get them to do anything with my prescriptions, I have to remember to call them every 1 to 2 days to remind them they’re supposed to be doing something. The typical line I get is that they’ll call back in 24-48 hours, but I can’t remember a time when they have. The individual people I talk to are usually very nice, but over time, nothing seems to end up happening.
This alone means a delay of several weeks before a prescription can be filled for the first time. They process the prescription through several queues before it can be filled, and each one requires a call. This is complicated by the fact that more than once, I’ve been told something was moved to the pharmacist’s queue for processing only to find out that it was not when I called back 2 or 3 or 7 days later. So that was several days of nothing happening. Fantastic.
Months-long waits
It took me over two months to get them to fill my first Enbrel prescription last year. We fought with them about it from December to February, the time of the year I most need my medicine to control flares. It took near-constant phone calls and follow-ups to get them to sort out an insurance issue. Finally, it took my dad elevating it for it to be fixed. I repeat: even with calling multiple times per week, it took over two months! This is ridiculously unreasonable for most people to navigate, and it ends up amounting to a second job that, luckily, my dad can handle since he is now retired.
I didn’t need my Humira immediately the last time I got a new prescription—I didn’t want to start it right when I was having procedures done—so I staged a little test. The prescription was received by CVS Specialty at the end of August. With no intervention from me, it took until the end of October for me to see in my account that it was ready to be filled—but I had to call to get it filled. I didn’t receive any communication from them that this was the case, though. No indication that they had my prescription at all, actually, except that they stopped bothering me to refill my Xeljanz.
For me, this impacts my quality of life. It has the potential to mess up my grades, set me behind in housework, lose money or productivity at work, and make me sleep excessively. It severely affects me, but I’m still alive. For some people who use CVS Specialty Pharmacy, they need their medicine to live. For example, my sister gets medication for her bleeding disorder so that she doesn’t bleed out. When viewed in that context, the delays I’ve experienced are absolutely terrifying.
The moved delivery date
This is what I’m currently dealing with, and I still haven’t gotten to the bottom of it. I scheduled my Humira to be delivered tomorrow. I am also due to take it tomorrow. (I know, poor planning on my part, but I ordered last Thursday and tomorrow, Tuesday, was the soonest it could be delivered.) Despite the fact that I told them directly in my order form that I need my next dose tomorrow, CVS Specialty has moved my delivery date to Friday. I’ve had them move or cancel orders in the past as well.
I did not get any calls from them about this delivery change. I also did not get any account messages or emails. I didn’t find out about it until I realized that I hadn’t gotten a message telling me my Humira was shipped today, and I only noticed this because I’ve been so eagerly awaiting the relief the next dose will give me. But guess what: they were closed by the time I realized!
This is absolutely unacceptable. The schedule for the medications that CVS Specialty delivers can be extremely important. Just considering biologics for arthritis, delaying doses can increase flares and decrease quality of life. For me currently, my Humira doses haven’t been lasting the full two weeks that they’re supposed to, and I’ve been looking forward to taking it for the past 5 days. It’s what got me through this weekend.
I’ll have to call them tomorrow morning and ask that it’s delivered Wednesday, but who knows if that’s possible? I don’t even know why it was delayed right now.
Update: I called this morning, and after much confusion, they informed me that someone noted in my file that my prescription expired. Their response to this had been to move my delivery date and contact my doctor for a new prescription—without notifying me that anything was wrong. If they had, I could have told them Monday or Friday or whenever it happened that this was a mistake.
I informed them that my prescription was new, from August, and after ten minutes of hold, they came back to tell me they had no idea what happened, but my prescription was fine. They forced the order through to be delivered tomorrow (Wednesday). Still late, but better than Friday, at least.
The damaged packages
Seriously, the package literally tells you which side goes up. It also contains expensive, important medication enclosed in glass tubes. But yes, please throw it down the stairs.
At least in Chicago, CVS Specialty contracts a weird, off-brand delivery service to deliver medication (RRD Logistics, whose package tracking page only gives you an email to contact if you want to know more). And even this specially-contracted company can’t deliver it properly!
I almost never actually find my boxes “this side up,” which means that sometimes the ice packs aren’t even covering my medication to keep it the proper temperature. And I did indeed find it thrown down the stairs once, lying dented at the bottom. I’ve also sometimes found the box perched precariously on ledges. The site for the shipper is so bad, though, I couldn’t even figure out how to complain.
I would have thought that a company that deals in medications that are expensive, important, and temperature-specific would at least invest in quality shipping.
The ghost system
My dad has dealt with CVS Specialty more than I have, as he handles my mom’s and sister’s prescriptions. He’s told tales of vanishing prescriptions and missing orders, because apparently they can’t even keep all their information in one place. At this point, he knows more about their systems than some of the customer service representatives whom he talks to: in the past, he’s had to ask them to check a different system where, magically, the supposedly missing prescription was living.
And their hours….
The hours their phone lines are available make it really hard to work with CVS Specialty sometimes. When phone calls take significant time to sort out, I can’t just squeeze them in between classes or on a work break.
And they don’t have weekend hours! This means you can’t get anything shipped on the weekends, can’t get any questions answered on the weekends, can’t get an update on an insurance issue on the weekends—nothing. We can get video games, shower caps, and inflatable Christmas trees delivered same-day with Amazon, but if you need your life-saving medication on the weekend or after 8pm Central time, you’re out of luck. The actual pharmacy that you can call has even worse hours. Need to ask the pharmacist a question after 7:30pm? Did your injection fail on a weekend? Oh well, you’ll have to wait. They gave me a nurse to contact with questions, but even she wasn’t available in a pinch.
And for some reason, the customer service representatives will call after hours, even sometimes on the weekends, with important prescription and order information. This leaves no way to return the call if you miss it by even a few minutes. That’s been the most frustrating to experience.
How common are these problems?
Since there’s not a common network among CVS Specialty Pharmacy users—and not even a common place to review it—it’s hard to figure out exactly how bad the problem is. I know what me, my mom, and my sister have faced, but we can’t be the only ones to have problems. My online searches turned up plenty of CVS Caremark reviews (also not great), but what about CVS Specialty reviews? I would love to hear from you about your own experiences with CVS Specialty.
At the very least, if we know what other people are facing, we can go in with a game plan and get better outcomes. And my hope (more like fantasy) is that if we talk about this, something will eventually change. When it’s all just swept under the rug, we never see the extent of the problem: it’s just a private struggle instead of a considerable, widespread healthcare issue.
The people who get their medication through CVS Specialty shouldn’t regularly face delayed prescriptions, unreturned calls, and undelivered medications. These medications are necessary for many people to function normally and in some cases stay alive.
So please, tell me about your experiences. I want to hear it!
-Bri
Update: Some further reflection on my CVS Specialty misadventures.
49 Comments
Rick Phillips
Hey I am with you on your comments.
Aghiles
I have been reluctantly been using CVS for the better part of three years and I can say with full confidence that it’s just a fucking barrel of monkeys in a room with a single typewriter. I have placed my order for my medication so many times in the past two weeks, and every day I wait for my meds only to be met with the dropped order or some insurance problem they don’t understand how to deal with. I’m three weeks late on my medication now and I probably will be longer because of these insufferable and maleficent fucking twats. Fuck CVS and everyone who works there.
Lisa R. Graber
💯% agree… They are ass hats deceiving liars and manipulators.. the CEO makes $60 million plus a year and doesn’t fucking care about us or our prescription needs ♨️
Thomas Scott
Yes, I have twice tried to get injection meds for my knees. NOTHING, two years, two different Drs. The phone tag method must be so you give up and they don’t have to pay. My wife at this moment is trying to get a “speciality” drug. 1hour 45 mins and counting. I like the, We need approval from your Physican. Am I wrong that a script FROM my Physician, is approval.
I, still nothing, hope my wife has better luck so she can get help with her lung function.
Lisa
Finally, someone else experiencing the horrific non service of this so called pharmacy. I too, have been forced to use this scam of a company. After spending hours on the phone providing my insurance information, I received 4 id codes. I was advised to supply my doctor with the codes. My doctor has let me know that CVS is suddenly stating I don’t have insurance. The brain trust at CVS caremark have called and leave a generic telephone number. I call, press all the right buttons and wait for hours with no one ever answering the phone.I talked to my doctor today and for some reason CVS Caremark has decided I have a different insurance company and a different address. I have been on the phone for over and hour today. Again, no help. Now I am being tranferred the the third person for expedition. Still no meds, no help at all.
Bri
I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with them too! It’s infuriating and wastes so much time. And these are important medications! It’s just a gamble on who you talk to that day, it seems… I hope you find someone who can fix it!
John m Tod
CVS Specialty pharmacy is HORRIBLE, some times when calling to be on hold of an hour or more. When you actually speak with a pharmacist they know what they are doing but their hands are tied, they can’t actually place your order, they have to put you through to a tech that you must wait at least, 10 minutes to speak to. I hate having to deal with CVS. BRIOVA was the best specialty pharmacist years ago, but I have no idea how they currently are treating anyone.
Galen
Add me to the list of maddened CVS customers. Our medical insurance is great but this part of the deal is a disaster. They must have been the lowest bidder. I’ve used many specialty pharmacies and CVS Spec is the worst bar none. However, when you do reach a person, they are almost always good. I sense CVS is keeping labor costs low to improve margins. If you look at the stock its in a 5 year decline. Time for some customer focused leadership as what you are doing now ain’t working.
Bri
Wow, it makes sense that it’s declining, but why isn’t anyone doing anything about it? I agree, the rest of my insurance has been great! But CVS Specialty has been unbelievably awful.
Leigh
I have similar issues with CVS Specialty Pharmacy. I placed my last refill order for my biological when I had 18 pills left. When I had six pills left they told me I had to call to confirm my shipping address (a seriously annoying redundancy as it’s confirmed in the online ordering process) and told me my refill would be delivered the next day (Friday). Friday came and went and I called Saturday and was told they’d be at my house on Monday. I’ll believe it when I see it. I run out of my current supply on Tuesday. This happens every freakin’ MONTH.
It doesn’t matter how much lead time I give them; for some reason these incompetent IDIOTS at CVS Specialty Pharmacy are absolutely incapable of getting my refills to me BEFORE I run out. Biologics have a cumulative effect; if you’re constantly running out and having to go without for however many days it defeats the entire purpose of taking them.
Joann Baxter
They are TERRIBLE. Wait times up to an hour. Incompetent help.
plinynovo
My experiences are very similar. Three years ago, my employer switched insurers and since then I have been required to obtain my medications from CVS Speciality. My prior insurance also required that I buy certain medications from a mail order pharmacy. The prior pharmacy did a okay (not perfect) job. They filled my Rxs automatically every 90 days and once I had everything set up it went smoothly (apart from an occasional hiccup).
CVS is a nightmare. First they will not fill 3 month supplies, and do have automatic refills. Once a month, they begin messaging, phoning and leaving messages that “it is time for me to refill.” In response I go online and fill out their forms for a refill, which include me having to count all of my remaining medications. I then submit the refill request. A few days pass, and then they email be that my order “has been cancelled” because I submitted it too early. (This has happened several times.)
If I phone them, I am required to go through numerous people who are sometimes outright rude and almost always clueless. They transfer from one person to another, with each blaming the other and often blaming me.
Then comes the moment that “my order is confirmed and I am given a delivery date. As that date approached, I then get a message that “my co-pay amounts have changed.” This results in a delay for several more days as we sort this out. 90% of the time the co-pay did not change and they ultimately ship my medications. Then this process begins again in a couple of weeks.
Also, if you actually look at the billing page, it makes no sense. One order will often have 10 or more charges, credits, debits, adjustments. None of it adds up.
I could go on with more but will leave it at this. I have stopped phoning them. I only communicate in writing (secured messages on their site). At first they told me I had to speak on the phone; I told them I preferred having a record of the back and forth AND that I would not under any circumstance consent Tony voice being recorded and that I lived in a state that requires ALL parties agree before a call could be recorded. I asked in writing that they ask there legal department to provide me evidence that I was required to speak to them. After that, things are still bad, but at least it is all in writing, and while they still ask me to call ever month, when I write back referencing my prior demand for written communication, they have at least honored that request and thankfully I have not had to call them for several months. Things are still stupid in writing, but at least have the records which I point out to them
laverne
i think all of us goes through the same horrible service and it is sooo frustrating we cant do anything about it. I’ve been forced to go through them for three years now and in the 38 months with them; i’ve had 2 flawless transactions. today i had another problem with them and broke down in tears ( its been a rough week) so I had to find out if anyone was experiencing the same issues. I am truly just writing now to vent my problems knowing I dont really have any other choice about my situatuation (my health ins prefers cvs specialty). Each month is the same problem of unsure on the billing situation or billing incorrectly. Then i dont get notified until the day of my scheduled delivery and so the next delivery wont be for a few days. Just so happens this month’s crisis landed on a friday, meaning I wont get my rx until wedneday of next week. Lucky me, my dose is Sunday so Im shit out of luck according to them.
Judi
Yesterday I spent 2 hours on the phone with 4 different people. I’ve spoken to 7 in total. They could not find my account number, they claimed they did not receive my prescription from my doctor, they gave me 3 different phone numbers and an address to escribe the prescription. I’ve asked to escalate the process with a supervisor and they won’t put one on the phone. They have no idea what immune deficiency is in general. One person did but would not forward me to, nor give me the phone number of, said division. I am overdue for my immunoglobulin infusions. In the middle of a pandemic. At risk of life threatening infection if I get COVID. The staff is inexperienced, lacks knowledge, and is terrible at customer service. I miss Accredo.
Crystal
I ran across your blog when I typed in issues with CVS. Last year CVS sent out my Enbrel prescription even though my Enbrel assist card was denied. Now they are coming after me for the money. I was able to find out how much was left on my card and I owe the difference. My issue is in the past they would call me and say hey this prescription is 4000 are you sure you want us to send out, then we would go over the payments over the phone and I would deny the prescription But not this time. How do I fight this? Would I as a business still send out product to a customer who’s card was declined? No this is so lame. I totally would have denied that months prescription and waited for my renewal.
Should I just let this go to collections and state my case? they are ignoring my calls and letters at this point. I have not ordered any more prescriptions even though I need them.
Sarah Dix
Don’t really know if it’s similar, but I’ve been having issues with them now too that I’ve never had before. I’ve had psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis since I was 14 and taken Enbrel ever since and at the time I was diagnosed, Enbrel was the only medication that was approved for people under 18. Been with CVS for a long time and never had an issue getting it approved. I call my doctor to get a prior authorization and everything seems to go through fine. Got a letter from CVS saying they denied my Enbrel because it was not deemed medically needed as I hadn’t taken anything else like Humira, Otezla, Skyrisi. Makes no sense because all I’ve ever taken is Enbrel besides failed topical treatments and they never had a problem approving it until now. I haven’t had my medicine in three months now due to this and have spent the whole week trying to understand why and how a pharmacy can deny someone medicine when their doctor has approved of it and says they need it. It doesn’t sound legal to me what they’re doing and if it is, it’s extremely messed up. What if this was something I needed to live, like insulin, and they denied it because I hadn’t tried other treatments? Why should I have to change treatments if the one I’ve been using still works? It’s been an extremely frustrating ordeal for me and my parents.
Dawn P
Wow!! So many of us with issues you’d think they would actually improve. I’ve been waiting for 2 months for gel injections for my knees. Thank god it’s not life saving but it would be nice to walk!!!
Pam
My husband is a transplant patient and gets monthly IVIG. So I get to play this game regularly. My biggest problem is that they can’t seem to bill my insurance correctly. Half the time they do, the other half they don’t. So the IVIG has holds placed due to money they say we owe. I have to spend an hour getting them removed. Yesterday, we got noticed that they sent us to collections. I’m over it!
Has anyone considered legal action for incompetence, harassment, and threatening to withhold a life saving medicine? I’m not sure where to start…
Yvonne
Second month in a row and not able to get my Xeljans prescription filled on time. I have the authorization number but they seem to be unable to follow through. I get a different story every time. Person on the line it training and has no clue how their system works. There definitely should be a class action on this.
Doug
CVS Specialty is a god-awful nightmare!
I started over three weeks ago to get my prescription ready. Call after call after call after call and I’m now going on 48 hours without my necessary daily dose.
I hate, absolutely HATE these people and this company. What can I do? Who can I complain to? What options do I have?
DESPICABLE!!
DAN
Thankfully I only have to deal with them once every six months. They are terrible!
Kathy
I have been dealing with this awful company also. Not by choice but this is who my insurance has for my speciality mail in medication. For the last 21/2 years EVERY 90 days when I call to have my medication filled, they never know how to bill it the correct way thru my insurance. I spend days and hours on the phone talking to clueless incompetent people. And of course my medication is always late because I will not accept it at the higher incorrect billing. After going thru this for 21/2 years you would think the incompetent people at CVS Speciality would know how to bill my insurance. This company is a serious joke and it is a shame you have to deal with this when all you want are your medications to treat your medical condition. I really want to know how do you file some complaints against CVS Speciality. I have threaten to file complaints with them and they in turn signed me up for a advocate in a program called AAM where I just deal with one person, well after dealing with her for the last week I discovered she is just as clueless as the rest of CVS Speciality folks, so still no medication and arguing,
Rajesh Kumar
Does anyone know how to file a complaint ?
I’m not talking about filing a complaint with CVS Speciality..but with a government body
There has to be a way considering that they are in the medical business and that their deliberate procrastination puts peoples lives in danger.
I don’t want to file a lawsuit, which would take a lot of money and effort.
But I would like to file a complaint with a government body.
Does anyone know how ?
Beth Biggs
Idk but if you find out, please share with us.
M C
Hello – I wanted to let you know that the best way to get a complaint heard and thoroughly investigated, is if enough people reach out to the Attorney General about the matter. Also, reporting to the Better Business Bureau can sometimes catch the attention of the right people. But I definitely suggest the Attorney General or reaching out to your state representative to get better results. Especially when dealing with a company under the massive CVS umbrella corporation.
Isa
I found you Googling “CVS specialty reviews. As of now I have been 41 minutes on the phone with them and I missed my medication this week. Every single month I have to call because of delays and there is always a new problem that should not be a problem. Nobody calls me to discuss the issues, I have to find out when my medication is delayed. This month I changed insurances, I called them to confirm, my husband called for me again to make sure they had all the data, they were supposed to get me the meds on Tuesday and nothing. When I called today they are telling me that the insurance expired. Well duh, I called you twice to give you the new info. Every. Single. Month. A. New. Problem. If you order through the website it never goes through and even ordering on the phone does not work. I am forced to use them through my employer but I am so sick of them already. End of rant.
Michael
I’m in agreement with everybody on this forum. This is just terrible pharmacy to deal with. I’m on Taltz, and am supposed to be taking once a month. As of today, I’m a week late taking it because the pharmacy can’t seem to communicate with me, my doctor, Taltz or themselves. They don’t follow through on anything, and only seem to be able to complete a task if I remind them.
janwallacereber
Add me to the list of totally unsatisfied customers. I receive scIG monthly, along with all of the spikes, tubing, needle sets, etc. Their online ordering system is a joke, but not a funny one. They list half of my supplies as main items, and the other half as add-on’s to those main items. Some of the “add-on” are duplicated for other “main items” and some are not. If you click on an add-on and then can’t remember what you clicked on when you get to the next list and see many repeats, you can’t go back to look at that former list. And when I called today, even THEY can’t tell me what was on those lists from which I placed an order!! It is absolutely inexcusable that a company as large as CVS can’t get a better web ordering system together.
Cyrus Warsnip
My experience mirrors the comments here by others. Over the last year that I have been dealing with them I’ve learned some tricks to try and get what I need. First I always order my drugs the second that they allow me to, using their app. I never call them, instead I use their secure chat function on the app, which surprisingly they always respond to and give me accurate information. I always assume that they are incompetent and will make mistakes. I follow up in writing frequently and usually get my monthly drugs maybe a week after they originally tell me. Occasionally I get my drugs on time, but I never assume that will happen. Finally I stockpile the drug so that I never run out, even if they deliver late. And I have my rheumatologist on speed dial so that if I ever do run out of drugs she can give me a sample pack to tide me over for a couple of weeks. Only 6 more years of this nonsense until my drug becomes a generic and I can get it for $30. Ultimately specialty drugs and the US medical insurance system is a massive conflict of interests that makes it unlikely it will ever change. Insurance companies and employers want to spend as little as possible. Doctors and patients just want to improve health outcomes. Drug companies want you to take their drugs but want to recoup their massive development costs before their patents run out. And CVS is trying to make a buck as a middleman. But hers the good news. Outside the US most of these drugs aren’t available to anyone at any price. In a funny way we are lucky to have to deal with this craziness because most of the world doesn’t even have a chance. Capitalism at its best and worst!
Viola
CVS Specialty? Thieves! One of the medication in the package was missing. They resent it and charged again! So I had to pay twice for their mistake! They could not prove they shipped it! Anybody had the same fraudulent experience?
Eileen D
I was ordered Cytoxan by my oncologist and the prescription was sent to CVS Specialty Pharmacy. It took over three (3) weeks to obtain the initial supply and since then it has been one delay after another. As of today, I will be receiving my next delivery of this (anti-cancer) drug three days late; it’s prescribed to be taken daily. I have found the customer service people to be well trained in lip-service but of little help. Despite requesting refills and reorders in a timely manner it is always someone else’s fault – insurance company, ordered too soon, weather. This division of CVS makes the pharmacy staff at my retail CVS look bad and they are not. It’s sad that there are a group of people like us that are at the mercy of a “healthcare provider” like CVS Specialty Pharmacy due to fact that we have illnesses.
Jennifer
I knew it couldn’t be just me. I have employer funded healthcare forcing my to get my specialty medications through CVS Specialty. I have a rare autoimmune disease and these medications are necessary to keep my immune system from attacking my tissues and organs until I die. I am on two infusions over 5 days per month, every month for life (Infliximab and Ig) and Otezla, the first FDA approved prescription for oral ulcers caused by Behçet’s disease. Between January and April I have not received a single infusion on time, and I am now three weeks past due for Infliximab, when I should be having IVIg this week. CVS Specialty has NO RIGHT to be handling these medications. They seem to have little to no understanding of the infusion process, or the supplies needed. My last infusion was sent with no saline flushes. I contacted HUB International and Fox Everett and stated I could not get my medications or supplies in a timely matter even after spending 60+ hours on the phone a month for three months. I am now in so much pain I can barely function through my work day, the job that PAYS for the insurance that is killing me. The choices are suffer, wait and possibly have long term health consequences, maybe even die, OR take myself through an ER to be admitted for a 3 hour infusion. Scary, painful and beyond ridiculous.
Adam
I’ve had the same experience as everyone else. I’ve never had a prescription refill with them that wasn’t a nightmare involving ridiculous hold times, unkept promises, late deliveries, and numerous phone calls.
Everyone there is stealing a paycheck, because nobody knows how to get anything done. All they do is pass you from one useless department to another.
I have no doubt that they’ve killed people with their incompetence.
Beth Biggs
I have had similar problems with them. I am trapped because my insurance requires I use them. I have Aetna and they used to have their own specialty pharmacy and I had no issues and next day delivery but ever since they switched to CVS Specialty it’s been at least week long wait times. Twice I have not received my order and called to check only to be told my order was not in the system or rather that I had not placed an order. This is just unacceptable. Like all of you, I need my medication to be able to move, function, go up and down stairs and do my job as a Preschool teacher without extreme discomfort. I wish there was a solution or a way to hold them accountable.
Alison
Also found this blog googling around in rage while on hold with CVS Specialty. I made the grave error of switching insurance providers this year, and so far to get one refill of the medication I’ve been taking for years, it took several weeks of follow up calls (because as others have said, god forbid CVS call you) and almost an entire day being on a three way call with my insurance and the incompetent people at CVS to override a glitch in their system that wouldn’t approve my refill despite having the prior authorization in place. The glitch was heroically fixed by my insurance rep, not CVS — someone who doesn’t even work there!! Somehow I got my medication (all in all, several weeks late).
Now time for a refill (that their automatic email prompted me to do), I am going through the entire thing again like Groundhog’s Day in hell. What infuriates me the most is the sequence of excuses you get that are all flat out wrong. First I get “oh we need prior authorization.” NO we got that over a month ago and I’m holding it in my hand. Oh ok … hold for 20 minutes … “oh, it says the coverage has exceeded the plan allowance.” NO that’s what we spent hours fixing a month ago. Ok please hold. “Oh, ok so I went to our help desk and they don’t have a record of you in our system.” Head explodes. Back on hold. “Oh so you’re requesting the refill too soon, it needs to be one day AFTER the 21 days and today is day 21.” This was ONE PHONE CALL WITH ONE PERSON.
CVS is the only place I have ever lost my cool with a customer service rep. It is disgraceful and dangerous that they are entrusted with medications that people depend on to be able to lives their lives.
Alex
OMG This place sucks. You have no idea how hard I had to fight to get Nexplanon because of the sheer incompetence of both CVS Specialty and my old insurance, Florida Blue. Some moron at CVS Specialty charged my old insurance THREE DAYS before my new insurance kicked in. FOR OVER $1k. It took many, many calls and tears of frustration to complete my claim with Florida Blue. CVS Specialty can go suck it.
Chris Griffin
I am profoundly shocked with what they do. I was with a great pharmacy called Ingenio RX specialty pharmacy and they were amazing. Now my insurance change forced me over to CVS Specialty Pharmacy. After 2 weeks of back and forth with my physician about insurance authorizations (that insurance hasn’t covered in the 4 years that I was on the medication) they eventually sent me my prescription. Minus the needles I need to use it with. Called back. Three days later my needles arrive. So 2 months later I called for my next refill. No problem! or so I thought. 3 days later, a txt that tells me to call them. Back to the prior authorization. I said we did that last month, my Dr. called you about it and you sent it to me. Check again, transferred again, told everything is being fixed. Sent me to another department, said it was a billing issue. Made sure billing had everything right and billing says, “I don’t know why you are here” so back to the pharmacy. After 50 minutes of this. Someone in a particular department picked up the phone and said simply the pharmacist has denied your prescription. I asked why and they said “he doesn’t feel it is appropriate for your condition” I said “its exactly what’s appropriate for the condition It even comes up on google as the top usage for it.” Well, “he says it doesn’t specifically say that’s what its for”. I ask what does it say it’s for? She can’t tell me, the pharmacists has that info. Can I talk to the pharmacist? “No”. Is there an appeal process? “No”. Can I have my physician call back in and fix this? “No”, you have already been denied, it’s now part of your records and won’t be changed. How do I get my medication? “Find another pharmacy”.
Here’s the kicker…They sent the needles anyway.
I figured this was way too special of an experience for me to have been alone in this.
Ben
Similar experience for years. Minimum 4-5 phone calls each time to get the order billed correct, complete and shipped out. I used to be able to get 90 day supply and only deal with this 4 times a year, now insurance forces one month supply at a time. I just called to find out if I can order Enbrel anywhere else. Not an option. Mandatory use of CVS Specialty only by insurance plan. Changes in shipping dates, no shipping and no notification, billing error after billing error. At the first of the year they charged my HSA card instead of my copay assistance card from Enbrel. Took them less than 30 seconds to make the error and over 3 months to send me a refund check. Do NOT place any form of payment on file with them. I’m guessing there are not any legal issues with restricting patients to one option for orders. Only option is probably employer’s HR, but big corporations just looking at saving money are unlikely to care.
ophcc1
Yes CVS specialty clinic and pharmacy are the worst ever. I do not know how they are still in business. They are absolutely moronic in their day to day operations. I ran several small business for the last 20 years but had to retire due to me helath conditions and I ran my operates the exaact opposite of cvs specialty. That why I know they are incompetent. WORST EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They should pay us to use them.
Cynthia
Is there a phone number or someone outside of CVS Specialty that issues can be escalated to? I am tired of calling and I don’t even get an estimated resolution date, no managers/supervisors to speak to meanwhile I have a medication in my fridge that I’m being charged over 3k!
Austin
Was googling trying to see if anyone else had dealt with this. Glad to hear I’m not alone. My new insurance uses CVS Specialty and it’s been a nightmare getting my first order of Inflectra scheduled.
I feel so naive thinking they would actually try. In the past my infusions were handled behind the scenes and I never had to intervene to get my medication delivered. Not the case with CVS Specialty.
CVS Specialty has no sense of urgency or care. No one on their staff takes any responsibility for getting your medication delivery to happen on time. Without my intervention, I don’t think anything would happen. I talk to a different person every time I call and they are only invested for the time of that call. I have to re-explain my situation because the notes they leave for each other are evidently not helpful. They put minimal effort into getting information they need from my Dr or me. They try to reach out a single time, rinse their hands of responsibility (“we left a voice message and never heard back!”), and leave it up to me to make multiple calls to try and resolve every hang up in a timely manner. But by the time they notify me and I do move it along, it’s already too late, the order has been delayed again, and the process restarts. Everything ends up feeling like my responsibility, my fault (you know, the Crohn’s disease patient who need specialty medication and puts a lot of $$$ into this garbage system).
I’ve been on Inflectra/Remicade/Infliximab for over ten years and have NEVER had this long of a delay between infusions. Guess I’ll find out soon enough if anti-bodies have built up and I’ll have to switch medication. And who knows if anything else will work as well again! Oh well! Thank you CVS Specialty for potentially ruining many good future years of remission!
I am usually a very calm person. Most people close to me have remarked they have never seen me angry. The American healthcare system makes me angry. I’ve never ever wanted to raise my voice or yell at anyone more than these people. Following anger is that sense of hopelessness.
I now have a zero trust policy with them. From now on, it’s phone calls everyday until they confirm the medication is shipped.
More Details:
They needed additional prescription information from my Dr. CVS made basically no effort to get the information themselves and it didn’t get resolved until I made phone calls. That was a week delayed.
There was also a hang up with the PA number. I knew I had had a PA for months at and just naively assumed CVS Specialty would contact my Dr and work it out. NOPE. They called Dr office and left a voice message ONCE and then never tried again. I don’t get contacted about this, I hear about it when I call asking about delayed delivery. Really?
My infusion coordinator then tried pass along that PA # multiple time, but they evidently never recorded/processed it correctly (how??? I don’t know). It wasn’t until I called and gave them the PA # myself and scheduled the delivery in one call that it seemed resolved. Two weeks delay.
SEEMED resolved. But then guess what? They’re some other checklist items they still had to do. And THEY WAITED UNTIL EVENING BEFORE DELIVERY TO DO THEM. So I get one call asking to confirm the co-pay information. Okay, I confirm. But then LATER that evening, they left a message explaining that the order would be delayed AGAIN (!!!!!) because they could not confirm the delivery with the Dr’s office. That was the first I had heard of it and they made NO mention of that when they called me earlier in the day! That’s probably another week delay.
Tracey
CVS Specialty pharmacy is the most frustrating experience ever. No regard for people who hurt in getting their medications to them. Rheumatoid arthritis is not fun. Customer service is awful. Hours on the phone to talk to a person. I hear your pain.
Barry
It still sucks 4 years later. I take specialty medication for an immune disorder, and my doctor called some refills in back in May. But CVS magically “lost” the prescription, so the nurse kindly called it in again last Tuesday.
Well, CVS got it… but sat on it until Friday, when they finally processed it. Then they didn’t bother to actually create the shipping label until Monday, and didn’t bother to give it to USPS until yesterday. Now, it’s stuck in a “distribution center” several hundred miles away, and I’m about to run out of my medication on Sunday.
Absolute disgrace of an organization. Maybe we should speak to a lawyer about a class-action suit.
Magi Cool
Nice blog thanks for sharing
William
CVS Pharmacy, a leading US pharmacy, is currently hosting a customer feedback survey at https://www.cvshealthsurvey.me/, where participants have a chance to win a $1000 cash prize.
Lisa R. Graber
William this has nothing to do with CVS specialty pharmacy this is only if you do something in a store and you are required to use your receipt for a 17 digit code to do the survey so this is not helpful to this post at all.
Mercedes
I just started with CVS Specialty and I am already hating it. But I had Accredo before and thought it couldn’t get any worse. Now I am not so sure 🙁
Matt
Yep, agreed. Awful. Not many alternatives. Thank god Obama fixed all this! (for the insurance companies)
Lisa R. Graber
Oh yeah sure thank God for Obama he sure made everything great huh?
$9,500 deductible… Like who can afford that? And then they will only pay $6,000 towards my $14,000 Ebrel medication🤣🤣🤣🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼‼️💯% joke the healthcare system in America especially CVS specialty pharmacy.