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Frequently Asked Questions
Prescription Refill/Renewal
- What is the difference between a refill
and a renewal?
- A refill is the continuation of an existing prescription. Eligible
refill prescriptions are shipped directly to you after you place
your prescription order.
A renewal prescription, on the other hand, requires approval from
your prescriber. Renewal prescriptions are necessary once a prescription
has no refills remaining or it has expired. (In most states, the
law requires us to receive a new prescription from your prescriber
if the original prescription is more than one year old.) To help
protect our patients, certain medications are excluded from our
renewal program and require you to contact your prescriber directly.
Once your prescriber has approved and written a new prescription
to continue therapy, you may send in that new prescription to
Merck-Medco Rx Services for processing.
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Requesting prescription renewals online is easy! Simply enter
the prescription (Rx) number of the medication that has expired
or has zero refills remaining in the Rx number boxes shown. (Note
that renewal requests are only accepted for prescriptions previously
dispensed by Merck-Medco.) Renewal requests are not accepted for
prescriptions that are more than one year old. Please allow 48
hours for your prescriber to review your renewal request. Important:
Your prescriber must respond to our fax requesting authorization
in order for your renewal to be processed. We recommend that you
make your prescriber aware that you are taking advantage of this
Merck-Medco mail service internet benefit, and to expect a fax
from Merck-Medco.
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An e-mail will be sent to you to let you know the status of your
renewal request. Should your prescriber deny your renewal request,
you may want to contact your prescriber directly for further assistance.
- I have submitted refills and/or renewals through the Internet
in the past and they were never received in the pharmacy. How
can I be certain that my prescription order was accepted by your
online system?
- When refilling or renewing your prescriptions through our web
site, always be certain to complete each step before exiting the
application. The handy key at the top of our online refill/renewal
application lets you know how many steps there are and where you
are in the process. Make sure that you fully submit your request
and receive a final screen thanking you for your prescription
order before exiting the application. To receive an electronic
confirmation of your order, be certain to provide your e-mail
address when prompted. You will receive an e-mail confirmation
when your mail service pharmacy receives your order, and an e-mail
confirmation when your order is shipped. Please check to make
sure that you have not set your e-mail program to block any incoming
e-mail from @merck-medco.com, @merckmedco.com or @merck.com. Incorrect
e-mail addresses or blocked domain e-mail settings will prevent
the receipt of e-mail communication.
- Once I complete a refill or a renewal, is there any way I
can be sure that you have received it?
- One way you can check to see whether we received your prescription
is to use our online Order Status application. Simply click on
Order Status and enter the Rx number of the prescription you chose
to refill or renew. You can do this immediately after refilling
or renewing your prescriptions online. You will receive a status
message on that prescription. You also have the option to view
a 30-day history of your prescription order within our online
Order Status application.
To receive an electronic confirmation of your order, be certain
to provide your e-mail address when prompted. You will receive
an e-mail confirmation when your mail service pharmacy receives
your order, and an e-mail confirmation when your order is shipped.
For renewals, you will be notified of the status of your prescriber's
authorization. In addition, please check to make sure that you
have not set your e-mail program to block any incoming e-mail
from @merck-medco.com, @merckmedco.com or @merck.com. Incorrect
e-mail addresses or blocked domain e-mail settings will prevent
the receipt of e-mail communication.
- What is Merck-Medco's online refill reminder program and
how does it work?
- Merck-Medco's refill reminder program is designed to remind
plan members to refill or renew and continue to take important
medications, specifically those medications that are for chronic
conditions for which there may not always be signs and symptoms
of illness.
Examples of the types of medications included in Merck-Medco's
refill reminder program include those medications used to treat:
- High blood pressure
- Heart conditions
- Depression
- Thyroid conditions
- Asthma
- Diabetes
- To take advantage of Merck-Medco's online refill reminder program,
your health plan sponsor must first permit access to the program.
If your plan sponsor has agreed to offer our online refill reminder
program, you will be prompted for refill reminder opportunities
during the online prescription ordering process. Simply enter
your e-mail address at the end of the order process and choose
the refill reminder e-mail option. Merck-Medco Rx Services will
send you a reminder e-mail in enough time for you to re-order
your prescription online at merck-medco.com.
- To help ensure that you receive our e-mail communication, please
make sure that the e-mail address you entered is correct. In addition,
please check to make sure that you have not set your e-mail program
to block any incoming e-mail from @merck-medco.com, @merckmedco.com
or @merck.com. Incorrect e-mail addresses or blocked domain e-mail
settings will prevent the receipt of e-mail communication.
- Where can I find information on the number of refills remaining
on my prescription?
- If you have had a mail service prescription processed by Merck-Medco
within the last six months, you can find the number of refills
remaining by entering the appropriate Rx number into our online
Order Status application. In addition, the label on your prescription
bottle and your refill slip contain information on the number
of refills remaining. Your refill slip also contains information
on your prescription's expiration date. If zero refills remain,
simply use our online refill/renewal application to request renewal
of your prescription online!
- Why don't you show me the name of the drug instead of just
the prescription number when I order a refill or renewal online?
- To help protect your privacy, full member names and drug names
are not transmitted over Merck-Medco Online. In addition, Merck-Medco
Online does not display members' complete mailing addresses. Instead,
when a member orders a mail service prescription refill or renewal,
Merck-Medco Online allows the member to confirm that the prescription
will be sent to the correct mailing address by showing only the
street address - not the full address - to which the prescription
will be sent. For added security, you are not permitted to change
your mailing address online.
- When ordering my prescription refills or renewals online,
how can I pay for them?
- Eligible Merck-Medco plan members have the option of paying
for prescription refills or renewals ordered online with a credit
card, or we can bill you. To have us bill your credit card you
must enroll in our Autocharge program. You can enroll in Autocharge
or change the credit card information on file when refilling/renewing
your prescriptions online, or you can call 1-800-948-8779. Please
have your member ID number and credit card information available
when you make the call. You can use your American Express®, Diner's
Club®, Discover/Novus®, MasterCard® or Visa® and your card will be
charged automatically each time you place an order.
Take advantage
of ordering your refill and renewal prescriptions online and enjoy
the ease and convenience of using your mail service plan!
- My prescription container indicates that I have refills remaining,
but when I tried to refill this medication, I was told that I would
have to get a new prescription from my doctor. Why is this?
- Though your prescription container may indicate that refills
remain for your medication, the actual prescription may have expired
prior to you requesting all of your refills. In most states, the
law requires us to request a new prescription from your prescriber
if the original prescription is more than one year old. This process
helps ensure that the patient's therapy reflects his/her current
medical status. If this situation should occur, simply
use our online refill/renewal application to request renewal of
your prescription. Merck-Medco will contact your prescriber
to obtain a new authorization. Once your renewal prescription
is processed through Merck-Medco Rx Services, you can use the
new prescription number to refill online.
Refilling online is now even easier!
Now we've made access to our secure refill process even easier! If you have the latest version of either Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer (version 4 or higher for both browsers), our new security capability will automatically "step up" your International-Grade (40-bit) version browser to the Domestic-Grade (128-bit) version. If you have version 4 or higher of one of these two browsers, you will no longer have to upgrade to a 128-bit version - we've done the work for you! If you are running an older version of a 40-bit browser, you will still need to upgrade to version 4 or higher. Please use our browser test program to determine your current browser version and its capabilities.
- Browser - The program which allows a person to view pages and process applications on the internet and that provides a way of navigating from one page to the other.
- International-Grade (40-bit) Encryption - Encryption is the process of converting meaningful information into a numeric code that is only understood by the intended recipient of the information. International-Grade, also called 40-bit encryption, uses billions of possible keys to secure your account information.
- Domestic-Grade (128-bit) Encryption - Encryption is the process of converting meaningful information into a numeric code that is only understood by the intended recipient of the information. Domestic-Grade, also called 128-bit encryption, uses thousands of times more key combinations than International-Grade (40-bit)encryption.
- I am using Netscape Navigator 4.x or Communicator 4.x and my browser passes your test. However, I'm receiving an "insufficient encryption" message when I attempt to go to refills/renewals.
- If you are receiving an "insufficient encryption" message with your Netscape browser, you can resolve this issue with refills/renewals submissions by following the brief instructions below:
- Please close your Netscape browser.
- Using Windows Explorer, go to the Netscape\Users\default directory. (This is commonly found in the Program Files directory.)
- Within this directory, please find and rename "cert5.db" to "cert5.bak" and/or "cert7db" to "cert7.bak."
- At this point, please open your Netscape browser. (This will cause your Netscape browser to automatically build a new cert7.db file for you.)
- To make certain that the change you've just made is working properly, please go to www.merck-medco.com and attempt to enter the refills/renewals form.
- If you find your browser is now able to access the refills/renewals form, you will have solved the browser problem and will be able to successfully submit refills/renewals as you wish. If you cannot get to the refills/renewals form and are still experiencing the same "insufficient encryption" response, please copy the cert5.bak to cert5.db and/or cert7.bak to cert7.db and then proceed to the next step.
- If the previous steps did not solve the Netscape browser problem, then you will need to upgrade your Netscape browser to the domestic (128-bit strong encryption) version of Netscape Navigator or Communicator. In order to download from Netscape, please visit Netscape's download site at http://home.netscape.com/download/. The download of the domestic (128-bit strong encryption) version is free of charge.
- I am using Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.x. I have passed your browser test, yet I'm receiving an "insufficient encryption" message when I attempt to go to refills/renewals.
- If you are experiencing an "insufficient encryption" message while using your Microsoft Internet Explorer browser, you can resolve this issue with refills/renewals submissions by upgrading your browser to the domestic 128-bit strong encryption version. To acquire the suggested upgrade of Microsoft Internet Explorer, please visit the Microsoft download site, which can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/download/128bit/intro.htm.
Place
your own Refills/Renewals inquiry
© Copyright 1999 Merck-Medco Managed Care, L.L.C. All Rights Reserved
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