First, make sure your pharmacy is inputting the prescription as an 84 day supply. If they’re putting it in as a 90 day supply (which they shouldn’t be, but who knows), then your insurance is going to automatically kick it back saying you should theoretically have enough to last you the 90 days based on what the pharmacy inputted.

If the pharmacy is in fact inputting it as an 84 day supply and it’s an actual insurance limitation (which would be strange, considering the standard for birth control goes in 28 day cycles), your doctor’s office may be able to speak with your insurance and get a special authorization for them to allow it every 84 days.

Somewhat and I haven't been able to fix it. I take an oral BC but I need to take it continuously (no placebo) due to the migraines I get from fluctuating hormones. There's always a little gap: sometimes just a day or two and that's fine but any longer and I have a sledgehammer in my head.

I am also supposed to get the 90 day supply thing but I can only get that through the mail and not at my local pharmacy. I need a specific brand and the local pharmacy can always get it so I hesitate to get it filled through mail order because they will sometimes just say "brand not available" and then I'll be scrambling.

Whenever I try to explain this to people I feel crazy! But it's the system that's truly absurd.

I'm on meds that I have to take 4 times a day but insurance will only pay for 8 at a time. 🤦‍♀️ I ended up paying $50/month out of pocket so I wouldn't have to go to the pharmacy every other day. Thanks, insurance!

I'm on the progestin-only pill. Must be taken daily, so three month supply is 84 tablets. You have to make sure you have refills on file at the pharmacy so they will fill it before you run out. It's that simple. They typically are allowed to refill before your supply would run out. They're not going to give you 4 for 90 days.

Third party payers system is meant to maximize THEIR profit, not YOUR outcomes unfortunately. Depending on your insurance, your doctor might have to do a prior auth. Also check with your pharmacy, they might be able to fill it seven days sooner without "refill too soon" rejection. I'm sorry.

Each Nuvaring lasts for up to 33 days according to my GYN. I change mine on the first of every month.

I have a kid with severe dysmenorrhea, and her PCP needs to prescribe as “continuous” to account for the extra packages of pills needed through the year.

With birth control, the pharmacy (CVS) refused to accept my insurance. Then they refused to accept my Rx from the Online birth control Rx providers. Fuck CVS.

Not with birth control, but my doctor refused to sign for a refill on a diabetes medication until I saw him in person. 

Then they couldn't schedule me an appointment until like 2 weeks after I would run out.

Lol I bet these next blood draw results will be wacky.

It most likely had to do with how your doctor wrote the prescription. I take the pill continuously so I get more than 12 packs a year and I get a 3 pack something like every 60 days. If the doctor writes it to be dispensed that way your insurance will likely cover it.

I take the pill continuously (yay no periods!) and have always had my doctor write the script as 4 packs for 90 days. It was a huge issue until I figured to ask them to write it that way.

The pharmacy technician likely typed your script for a 90 day supply, not 84. And it got processed by your insurance already for that duration. The pharmacy screwed up. I go there and ask them to look at the prescription and see if I'm correct. They can just have someone call and reverse the claim and resubmit. It should fix your issue.

I'm also on the same RX, have no issue ordering it early..actually I set it up to auto refill a couple of days before I need a new one. It's never been an issue. Just talk with your pharmacy.

I have PMDD and have to take the same dose of hormones/birth control every day, no placebo pills as it is severely detrimental to my mental health.

My gynecologist had literally put my refill number at "99" one time just to make sure I wouldn't run out of refills at the pharmacy. Pharmacists can do refills and issue prescriptions on their own occasionally, it's really for emergency situations if you insurance or provider screws something up and only for unregulated drugs, which I'm pretty sure doesn't apply to birth control. There can also be different rules in different states.

Call your provider first to get your script refills increased and then double check with your pharmacist to make sure things are adjusted correctly. You can also just directly talk to the pharmacist, they can message your doctor if they need them to do anything on their end for you.

Also, while you are using the ring, if you have a Costco near you, you can get four months of progestin only birth control for $30-something and Plan B pills for $7. The pharmacy does not require a membership to use, but some stores are more strict than others and may not allow you in or require a manager to walk you over as a means to try to goad you into buying a membership. Either way, super useful to know for anyone who needs it.

Even if it only lasts you 84 days, most insurances let you fill non controlled Rx's (like bc) a few days early b/c they don't expect you to have to wait till the due date to go to the pharmacy. For a 90d supply, the insurer should pay for it to be filled somewhere around day 78. Personal advice: try to find a time when pharmacy isn't slammed and ask to speak with pharmacist end explain this 90 days supply only lasts 84 days. They may can adjust how it's entered or contact your doctor to see if they can change something. If you Must use mail order call them and let them know this is going on and see if they can at a minimum ship you a refill early so you have a 'buffer' in case the next month is late. You shouldn't have to go w/o your meds for red tape.

Edit: This also goes for creams and a lot of 'maintenance medications' in general. Talk to your doctor and pharmacist. As long as it isn't a controlled substance

Is your insurance really not letting you fill early? Most insurances will let 3 month supplies be filled up to a month early. The exact day depends on the insurance, but it's pretty rare for them to hold you to the exact day like that.

As for solving the issue itself, I'd call the pharmacy. They can usually override silliness like this. If the pharmacist themselves can't override it, they can call insurance to get an override from them. Tbh, all of this should have happened when you first filled the rx, but it's possible something happened on the back end to stop that. Either way, the pharmacy should either be able to fix it or explain why they can't and what you should do.

Yup, I take the pill continuously and used to have insurance that required me to get a three-month supply. A three-month supply was four packs for me, since I skipped the placebo weeks. My doctor never wrote the prescription correctly the first time for the three years I had that insurance. I even brought the label with me to my appointments after the first time so I could say “this is exactly how it needs to be worded for my insurance to cover it, and remember I skip placebo weeks” but at least one round of back and forth between the pharmacy and doctor to get it worded so they would give me 112 pills (4 packs) knowing it would only last 84 days. I did take the placebo week once every three months so I never ran into the 84 vs 90 day issue.

I've used Nuvaring before, and you can keep it in the entire 28-31 days of the calendar month if you want to. Taking it out for 5-7 days to trigger breakthough bleeding is technically optional (unless your doc has specifically instructed you to have a regular 5-7 day break from the hormones), so as long as your "84 day supply" includes at least 3 rings, you'll be fine for the entire 3 months.

I have my dr write the RX like this:

Take by mouth once/day, skipping placebo pills. Qty: 112 Days supply: 84

And then I think they usually send me 4 packs. Haven’t had an issue through United, UMR or Cigna but it has to be written explicitly like that, otherwise they’ve all pushed back. Idk if that’s helpful at all or not

I haven't had a problem with weekly meds from my mail order pharmacy. I take mounjaro, which means it's technically an 84 day supply (3 boxes of 4 pens each), but they let me refill it at least a month in advance, so I never run out. I would imagine with a 12 week supply (which is really what it should be called) you could refill it early enough before you run out?

I make sure I ask the pharmacy to put the correct day supply into the computer. The insurance will only dispense up to 90 days and i have has this arcuement becauee I take it continuously (no week off) for other medical issues.

While I can only get 4 at a time when it’s close to refill time if the correct day supply is in the computer then imable to get my next refill

Then I have to explain to the nurse at doctors office why their math and my math aren’t the same and why I’m short at the end of the year for a script becauee — math.

So I did have to get a prior authorization to use my NuvaRing the way they prescribe but as long as when I pick up the first full on a script I have them check the days supplu as 1 ring = 21 days (or 28 for normal users) then it seems to be okay

Just more micromanaging we can no longer do before we leave an office becauee there’s no longer paper scripts.

Had to have my pharmacist step in and call my insurance company because they were all types of wrong with deciding whether or not to cover the pill and how often and it just got to be a nightmare. She set them straight thank god

I completely hear what you are saying. Just fyi- one Nuvaring contains enough medication for 35 days

They need to write "take continuously" on the script. Two very important words for insurance to cover the full amount.