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Unscripted

Posted

To the editor:

The battle to secure health care for 9/11 responders has been long and difficult for many families, and I know people get tired of fighting for what is right. 

But there now appears to be an issue with how 9/11 first responders are able to fill their prescriptions from the WTC Medical Monitoring Program, presenting yet another hurdle.

The WTC Medical Monitoring Program provides free medication for 9/11-related illnesses, but the program is now using Express Scripts, a pharmacy benefit management organization, to fill prescriptions, as do many first responders, for their other needs. 

Because Express Scripts works with both personal insurance and that used for 9/11-related illnesses, it appears some 9/11 first responders are mistakenly being billed via their personal insurance for medications. Not only does this mean that responders are being charged co-pays for medication that is supposed to be free, but the meds are counted toward annual permitted prescription maximums. 

I would ask that anyone who has been party to this mixup to please notify the WTC Medical Monitoring and ask for them to resolve the issue to also contact Express Scripts to verify that the issue was fixed. If it’s happened to us, it’s happened to many.

Donna Michaels

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