Tribal Pharmacy taking over mail orders on July 16

The cost of health care is a major concern for not only The Tribe but everyone across the country. Costs continue to rise at all levels within the system, and we must find ways to minimize the dollars spent on health care while maintaining services and quality. Every dollar saved is a dollar made available to help preserve and protect the Grand Ronde community.

In 2010 The Confederated Tribes of Grand spent over $5 million for prescription coverage alone. The utilization of mail order and the Tribal Pharmacy generated an estimated savings of over $600,000 last year. The Tribal Pharmacy is able to purchase medications for its members and those patients that utilize the clinic services for approximately two-thirds the cost of a retail or other mail order facility. In addition the pharmacy only passes through the actual cost of the medication to the health plan; there is no markup as there would be at an outside facility. Savings to the plan and more importantly to you are maximized by using the in house pharmacy. Our goal is to continue to maximize these savings of dollars expended on prescription coverage without decreasing any plan benefits. In order to accomplish this, effective July 16, 2011, the Tribal Pharmacy will be the sole mail order facility available.

What this means to you; The only change will be that plan participants that currently use ESI mail order to receive their maintenance medications will now need to receive their prescriptions from Grand Ronde  Your benefits will not change, however your expenses will decrease. For tribal members, unlike with ESI, there is no cost for prescriptions covered by the plan. For employees and their covered family members, your copay will allow you to get a 90 day supply for the cost of 30 days, whereas now if you are using ESI you get a 90 day supply for the cost of 60 days.

You will be receiving within a few weeks a new health plan card. This card will identify Restat as our new prescription processing company. You will need to begin using this card on July 16, 2011. If you are currently filling your prescriptions through ESI mail order, filling services will be available through July 15, 2011. Transferring your prescription to the Tribal Pharmacy as soon as possible will help ensure as smooth as transition as possible. Please call the pharmacy at 503-879-2342 and the staff will be more than happy to get your prescriptions transferred and answer any of your questions or concerns.

Thank you!

Julie Davis

Pharmacy Director