Medco Healthcare Services
Reviews and Complaints

For the past 2 years (since 2015) I have been trying to get reimbursement for appts. I covered in San Diego that were authorized by Medco.
I have sent my invoices multiple times to [protected]@gmail.com and to [protected]@rxmedco.net. and have been completely ignored.
For more than a year I did not get any reply nor any payment. I called dozens of times always being told by the receptionist that there was no one in the office, getting transferred to answering machines and not one person has ever called me back after leaving dozens of voicemails.

I have also sent via certified  air mail all my invoices to the address I found on the Internet P.O. Box 1151 Deerfield Beach, FL 33443 and they have been  returned to me because no one picked them up. As you can imagine, I am very frustrated because there is not a human being replying or answering to my voicemails and it is completely unacceptable that I have not received complete payment for my services after 2 years

I was contacted by a "Bianca" on 4/5/16 calling on behalf of Medco Services Corp. Net.
She stated that she had taken my information from the CA. Judicial Services,
as a certified Interpreter.
She asked to hire me for a Deposition for April 6, 2016
At the Location: Miracle Mile
5670 Wilshire Blvd. Ste. 1800
Los Angeles, CA. 90036
She asked for my rate, I stated $250. for a 3 hr or 1/2 day rate.
She asked if I would take $225. and parking, I agreed.
Parking was $24.00

I called as is my practice when I ended to report "end time" at 3:46.
I also reported that parking was $24. and that a copy of receipt would be
e-mailed that same day as is my practice, of which I did.

My billing was sent 4/6/16 for services of $225. and parking of $24.

I did not receive an acknowledge of receipt of Invoice.
Therefore I sent an e-mail asking if my Billing for payment had been
received and "Bianca" apologized, and said "Yes".

On 5/17 /16 I called at the number I had been called from [protected]
for payment and I spoke with a "Windy" stating she was terribly sorry
and that the previous Friday the payment had just been mailed (5/13/16).
On 5/18/16 I called and "Mary" answered and said she was terribly sorry to please resend the billing to "Mary" at the same e-mail, I asked about "Bianca" and she was vague, I pressed on
asking about "Bianca" and she finally said she was no longer working there
that she had gone back to school. ( "Mary's" voice sounds just like "Bianca's")

On 6/2/16 I called "Mary" about payment and she said she did not know anything about it that she would speak with "Anna" at accounting.

On 6/6/16 I called "Mary" and she said she could not do anything that accounting was at another office in another state and she could not help me,
to please get off the phone.

I just want to get paid for the work I was contracted for.
I have another colleague Francisco Hulse that was contracted and not paid.

I'm enclosing the billing.
the telephone No's [protected] ext.202
[protected]
Thank-you, Best Regards,
A hard working Interpreter that needs to get paid,
Alicia Ashkar
[protected]@yahoo.com

On 6/2/16I I called to ask about payment

I am a Medical Interpreter and covered an assigment for Medco on NOV/2015 and they didn't pay it. Every time I call them they put me on hold, I can't get anybody on the phone. I have no idea how to deal with them. Does anybody got paid by this company?

I provided interpreting services for this company and they refuse to pay me for my services. I submitted my invoices and have called numerous times to try to collect my payment and it's always the same thing. They take your name, telephone number and the amount they owe you and tell you they will pass the message go their accounting department. When you ask to speak to someone in their accounting department they tell you that they just left or no one is available . When you ask yo speak with a supervisor or manager they say they can only pass on the message. It's the same responses every time. In a nutshell. Medco does not pay you for your services. If you don't mind working for free, work for Medco Services.

I am having a major problem with Medco. From misinformation to fabricating stories to my doctor. I am now 1 day without my medication and its all because Medco gave me misinformation, which they acknowledge and sat on a Rx for 2 weeks without acting.

I called Medco worried because I knew my health insurance was going thru the roof after the 1st of the year and I needed to get my 90 supply ordered before that happened. I was told several times that my order would be requested on December 28th and sent out after the first of the year, but not to worry because it would still be processed under my old insurance.

I called again before the end of the year and was told everything was fine... called again after the first and was told everything was good but it had not shipped yet... called again today and was told they were going to process it under the new insurance and instead of costing $90 it was going to be over $1000 and there was nothing they were going to do about it!

This company lied to me and drug their feet in order to delay the processing and get a bunch more money. Too bad I don't have it and I have no idea how I am going to be able to continue paying for my meds at this price.

One thing is for sure, Medco will never see another dime of my money and I will post this message anywhere I can find to put it!

Medco botched both of my refills by supplying generics that my physicians had not requested. This was shortly after I joined Medco, and these were my first refills. On my first trial order they filled both prescriptions quickly and accurately. I was told by the Medco sales force that Medco would *not* change any of the medications that I was taking-- that using Medco would be the same as going to the pharmacy of my choice. After I formally signed up, that changed.
Prescription 1: a generic brand that I had used successfully for years. During the trial period, Medco managed to supply me with it with no problem. Upon refill, a different brand was substituted. I tried Brand X, and it did not work well. Called
Medco and was told that they could substitute any generic at their option, and advised
me to have my doctor re-order, specifying the brand name. After the re-order, Medco called me to note that they did not have my brand in stock, and was it acceptable if the order was filled in (quoting Medco) "3 or 4 days"? I said fine. Well, I've just received the prescription, 15 days after the re-order.
Prescription 2: a well-known brand medication manufactured by Bristol-Meyers Squibb. Instead, I received a generic manufactured by Winthrop. Called Medco: "Your doctor ordered the generic. We received a fax.". Called my doctor, who searched his records. "No fax was sent to Medco and the doctor would never switch you to a generic without discussing it with you first." Back to Medco: they had contacted the doctor by phone and he had prescribed the brand name. Medco had sent me the generic because it is a "close substitute". Medco also told me, in a separate conversation, that they might "have difficulty" obtaining the brand name from Bristol-Myers Squibb. Funny, Medco had located Bristol-Myers Squibb just fine during my trial period. The brand name drug is on order.
Summary: Despite the promise of its sales force that Medco would keep me on the same meds that my pharmacy had supplied, it did not do this in the case of both drugs that I take. In one case, the substitute drug did not meet my needs, and it took an additional 15 days for me to receive the drug after Medco had received the re-order. Medco also substituted without authorization a generic for the brand name drug
ordered by my physician. The re-order is being filled. While Medco indeed costs less than a bricks and mortar pharmacy, the service is not good.
Fixes:
--Have your physician write your prescription specifying: 1)the name of the medication, 2)the name of the manufacturer you want and 3) the letters DAW (dispense as written). This will prevent substitutions.
--Have your physician write you an extra prescription that you can take to a pharmacy, in case Medco fails to fill your prescription on time.
--Write the Federal Trade Commission and your state's 1)Department of Consumer Affairs and 2)Attorney General with your complaints.
drug that my physician had ordered.

I am not sure where to start, I have been using Medco (by default) because my employer was trying to save money and apparently went with the worst and cheapest company that they could find for Perscription coverage. Since then (about 3 years ago) the prescription nightmare has continued.

The most common complaint that I have is that they commonly send me the generic medications instead of the name brand medication that I am required to take. My Doctor always checks the DNS (do not substitute) box on my prescriptions. Medco usually over looks this and sends the generic medication anyways. This problem has gotten so bad that my Doctor now checks the box, initals it and writes "DO NOT SUBSTITUTE" all over the prescription. To this day I still receive the generic.

You can call and try to get this issue resolved GOOD LUCK.. after you get through the phone tree, you will get someone that dose not speak the same language as you and they will not understand much of what you tell them, nor will you understand them.

They will put you on hold ...only for a moment...and they will read off of a script telling you that they appoligize for putting you on hold, then after 5 to 20 minutes that same person or someone else will come back on the line and act like they have no idea why you are calling or they may just "Accidentally" hang up on you.

They always tell me that they are looking at my prescription and that the box is not checked. I ask them if anything is written on the script and they tell me that there is nothing...I know better, because I always have a copy of the prescript in my hand when I call and they always have "DO NOT SUBSTITUTE" written all over them.

They will tell you that there is nothing that they can do because your Dr messed up and you will have to just take what they send you. ...Ask for a Supervisor...If you get one, they will be of no help, One time I kept asking for Supervisors and after about the fourth one they told me that the Supervisor would have to call me back within the next 48 hrs. ...guess what, they never called.

My other favorite issue is their billing system...DO NOT LET THEM KEEP YOUR CREDIT CARD # ON FILE!

They will often get confused and bill you what they think sounds good.

You can use your credit card # to pay for a medication over the phone on a one time basis. Ask them to remove your # right after they bill you. They can do this and sometimes they actually do.

I have had them try to bill me for the actual price of the medication as if I had no coverage at all...sometimes over $3, 000.00...

Their automated recording system will usually call you if they are about to bill you over $100.00, but not always...and if it dose, it will call you every day, sometimes even three times a day. If you call and think you actually were able to resolve this issue, you were probably lied to and the automated recording will call you (one time within 10 minutes of my telephone resolution) saying that thay are about to bill you full bore again!

Enough said...I could go on and on and on.

If you were to get on a cruise ship and go on one of the three day cruises to Mexico, get a Suite on the ship, eat at the nice restaurants, gamble etc...get off the ship in port, go to one of the little stores that sell medications that are all over the tourist routes and buy your medications. You would have a great time and save lots of money...also the medications are probably a better quality than the generic's that Medco is trying to push on you.

I have mail order prescription through United Healthcare Medco Pharmacies. In February they sent me a refill on a prescription that I did not request and that I don't need. I was charged a $40.00 co-pay through my Health Reimbursement Account. I called and told them I didn't order it and they said they couldn't take it back once I had received it and I would just have to pay for it. This reduced the funds available in my HRA.

Now yesterday Medco has sent two more refill prescriptions that I did not order and that I don't need. I was charged again through my HRA. One was a $40 co-pay and the other was $37.72. I again called Medco and spoke to Rose who transferred me to her Supervisor Vera. She said since I didn't pay for it out of pocket (only thru HRA, ) they couldn't do anything about it. They refused to reimburse me for prescriptions that I hadn't asked for, refused to take them back and told me I'd have to talk to my Health Reimbursement Account about it. This is now $117.72 in prescriptions that I have received and have had the funds taken out of my HRA. While I didn't pay for them directly, that is now money that I can't spend on other medical care.

I believe they are purposely sending prescription because they think I have no recourse with a credit card company. My complaints are met with "there's nothing we can do" and refills continue to come on expensive medication I don't need.

When I told the Supervisor I was going to file a complaint with the OSBF, she said she could take care of that for me. What? Again, I think another way to ignore my complaints and get away with charging me for something I didn't order.

What recourse do I have when a company is sending me prescription refills that I don't order and are charging me for them? This seems to be a way for the mail order pharmacy to make more income.

My mother who is an 82 year old Alzheimer's patient has 2 accounts at Medco. One is her MVP Health Care account which pays all but a small co-pay for her medication. The other is an account she has through my father's union. This account does not cover the drug. When the doctor submits a prescription to Medco without an account number, Medco chooses the account which will cost the patient the most. I have had this outrageous policy verified twice by people at Medco. So, their website says they care about providing affordable prescriptions for their patients, but their stated policy is to screw the patient when they can get away with it.

My first run-in w/ Medco related to this medication was in 2008. Medco (like most) is biased to generics, and we gave the generic a whirl. It did not work; my MD documented the fact; and I wrote the FDA's generic drug office, which keeps records of these issues. The next time my MD sent in the Rx for the brand name med, a Medco rep called my MD to try to convince him to use the generic. (I know this because he called me immediately afterward to confirm that his records were correct and the generic did not work.) Two days later, a Medco rep called my home at 8:45 pm to tell me I had to switch to the generic or my copay would increase to more than $140 per month. I told the rep that my MD had confirmed the need for the brand name 2 days previous, and meanwhile checked copays on the website, which showed maximum copay for this brand name at $90 per month. I confronted the rep with that information, and he told me I would have to get approval from risk management to use the brand name. So we went around that barn.
A little more than a month ago, Medco incorrectly filled an Rx with the generic. I didn't notice until I opened the bottle several weeks later -- by which time I was no longer insured by Medco. After running me and my doctor around on the telephone for more than an hour on more than 6 different calls, Medco finally informed me that they would not do anything about it. So Medco saves; the local social services dept gets a three-month supply of a generic I can't use; and I wasted a huge amount of time.
Medco's explanation is that the MD failed to DAW the RX. The MD is furious because the RX forms sent by Medco had brand names or generic names at the top, according to what I take, so she finds their forms misleading -- who would think to DAW a set of forms that have been correctly pre-written for brand names or generics?
As far as I'm concerned, Medco is among the lowest of the bottom feeders. They exploit the distances and time involved in required mail-order RX to force medication changes that are to the benefit of their bottom line, not their patients. Did I call us patients? The correct name is profit centers.

Mailed a prescription to Medco almost two weeks ago. Tried to call customer service on Saturday, got disconnected twice, never reached a human. Called today, finally got a human. Asked about prescription hold up, was told they couldn't read the prescription and couldn't reach the prescribing doctor. Claimed they could not read his phone number. Isn't the phone number printed on the prescription pad? Asked why then, they hadn't bothered to contact me to let me know any of this. The representative could not give me a reason. He said "well, it says here you are eligible for automatic phone call notifications". I said, right, so why didn't they call? He didn't know. What if this were life or death medicine? How long were they going to sit on this?

After being on a precription for disc problems and Fibromyalgia, Medco has decide over the Doc's orders that I can't have my medication on the day prescribed. My health is bad and after being hospitalized, I had the occasion to have my script filled early, which the Doc knows that I also have to travel 60 miles for my meds. (Country person) This time I will have traveled 200 miles for 1 bottle of meds. Thank goodness I have'nt trusted to their mail service. This medicine also warns of serious withdrawals - you would think a medical company wouls know this!

I was checking my bank account and saw that I had been charged by Medco for a prescription I did not order. They refuse to do anything but apologize and say they can't do anything about it. I had not been on line with them in 4 months and they say I was, it is so frustrating because I know what I order and when.At least my credit card company is helping me to dispute it and has taken the charge off for now. No more medco for me, I will stick with a real pharmacy, it is not worth the headache.

Medco robo called me that they were increasing my prescription quantity UNLESS I called then back by 6pm the next day. When I tried to connect to a live person, the robo voice said, ' No one is available." This was a Thursday night. If I had not called by Friday, they would not have even tried to process my prescription until Monday! The Medco supervisor at first lied to me that I would recieve my order in seven days. Then 'Eddie' admitted that it would only ship in seven days after THEY submitted it for processing. Medco would have taken 12 days to ship a simple 30 day prescription. THANK GOD for RITE AID. Medical Mutual of Ohio extends the same discounts to Rite Aid as to MEDCO. I Cancelled my MEDCO prescription.

Medco quoted me $20 for a generic prescription, but when the bill came after the dugs were delivered, they wanted $120. when i called them, i was told it was my doctor's fault for not submitting the proper prescription. when i called my doctor, they assured me they submitted the correct generic prescription.
Even if Medco wasn't lying, when they give you a quote it means NOTHING. they won't call you if the quote has changed, they won't call you if the prescription you have a quote for doesn't match the one the doctor called in. if a doctor calls in a prescription for you, you have to pay for it even if you have not been consulted. I can't think of a business in this country that operates on these principles. I'm not a lawyer, but it sounds like fraud to me.
btw, it seems all of MEDCO's customer service seems to be outsourced to India and there is no way to escalate the calls. The only way to officially complain to their management is to send a letter via snail mail.
Oh, if there is any doubt about what these con-artists are doing with your money i just googed "MEDCO ceo" and found this:
"Pharmacy benefits manager Medco Health Solutions Inc. said even though its CEO took a 7 percent pay cut in 2009, he still received $13.3 million in total compensation, according to Associated Press calculation of figures filed with regulators."

I am a type 1 diabetic on the insulin pump. For 2 years medco has not been able to deliver my mail order to me on time. They lie to you with a different lie every time you call and call and leave messages that your prescription is coming or not coming send emails but nothing ever happens. This time I was so pissed when they told me to get a prescription again from my doctor for extra insulin from the drug store I told them no, get it right. So this time I have actually been without insulin for days.

Medco, the prescription service WE pay good money for through conocophillips, ranks right on up there with Sprint regarding their customer service department. I have been on and off the phone for weeks trying to get my husbands high blood pressure meds filled. I have talked to doctors, and medco over the last 2 - 3 weeks! Medco lies about when they get the faxes from the doctors, you cannot get an address or phone number to turn in a complaint, no, the CUSTOMER SERVICE person your aggravated with wants to TURN IN YOUR COMPLAINT!
Anybody out there have a address or phone number I can call?

My wife had been getting her prescription for namebrand Fosamax filled through CVS pharmacy for over a year, then starting in 2010, Medco changed the rules, and now, she has a choice between paying a $30 co-pay for the generic form or $60+ to continue with the namebrand Fosamax. The sad fact here is that the generic form causes her to have severe stomach pain (gastritis) which has been substantiated by her doctor, however, Medco insists that she pay the higher co-pay because the generic form is available. We have spoken to Medco, but they don't care if the generic form causes her stomach pain. Does anyone have a solution? Should we hire an attorney and sue?