"They said they didn't cover the generic, and I said well do you cover the name brand one? They said they did, but they couldn't give it to me because my doctor had ordered the generic. If I ordered the name brand, it would be $100 for a 90 day supply, which is a huge difference."
3 possibilities:
1. Your doctor wrote "dispense as written" on the script, which barred United from substituting. This is highly unlikely because doctors only do this when prescribing name brand.
2. United didn't have system rules in place to flag this type of thing because there's no financial incentive to do so for United or your employer who is actually paying for your drug. Chances are, if generic costs $347, then brand name costs more. When you pay $100, your employer is still paying the remaining, which could be $250+ When you get generic, your employer pays nothing.
3. United didn't have system rules in place to flag this because they are just incompetent. The fact that they don't cover generic means that your employer is getting rebate from brand. Unless your employer is trying to save a few bucks by intentionally screwing over their employee, United system should've flagged this an simply auto substituted to cheaper alternative.
Either way, unless brand was materially different, United is within legal right to auto substitute without needing a new scripts. In short, they served you a bunch of turd sandwiches.
3 possibilities:
1. Your doctor wrote "dispense as written" on the script, which barred United from substituting. This is highly unlikely because doctors only do this when prescribing name brand.
2. United didn't have system rules in place to flag this type of thing because there's no financial incentive to do so for United or your employer who is actually paying for your drug. Chances are, if generic costs $347, then brand name costs more. When you pay $100, your employer is still paying the remaining, which could be $250+ When you get generic, your employer pays nothing.
3. United didn't have system rules in place to flag this because they are just incompetent. The fact that they don't cover generic means that your employer is getting rebate from brand. Unless your employer is trying to save a few bucks by intentionally screwing over their employee, United system should've flagged this an simply auto substituted to cheaper alternative.
Either way, unless brand was materially different, United is within legal right to auto substitute without needing a new scripts. In short, they served you a bunch of turd sandwiches.