Nearly 100,000 federal employees, retirees and dependents enrolled in the Blue Cross-Blue Shield Service Benefit Plan were greeted with a not so happy new year last week.
On Jan. 1, computers at pharmacies around the country began denying prescription drug authorizations to enrollees in the federal Blue Cross plan. Over the next 20 hours, 96,531 members at 47,000 pharmacies were unable to get their prescriptions filled, The Washington Post reported. About 10,000 of the prescription rejections occurred in the Washington area.
Pharmacists at Giant Food Inc., a regional supermarket and drug store chain, noticed the pattern of rejections and alerted Blue Cross-Blue Shield's drug benefit manager, PCS Health Systems Inc., of Scottsdale, Ariz.
A PCS apokesperson said no patients were denied their medications, because pharmacists made special arrangements with customers or customers paid cash and will be reimbursed.