I went to an ENT for a sinus infection and sinus problems. She said I had sinus infection, gave me antibiotics, and scheduled another appointment. I made a thread about that here:
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/making-sense-of-medical-billing/I went back, sinus infection was cleared up, but still lots of phlegm. Dr says she thinks it's uncontrolled acid reflux. I say I'm on medication for heartburn and have had no heartburn in years, so it's working. She says sometimes the medication can work enough to stop the symptom of heartburn, but not work well enough to actually stop the underlying problem, which would cause the phlegm and in turn the other problems. She prescribes more powerful acid reflux medication and schedules another appointment.
I am still a couple weeks out from my follow up appointment and my rx ran out. I called the office to renew it, and they refused and stated that rx can only be renewed by scheduling a telehealth visit with a nurse and paying a copay. I explained it was for an OTC heartburn medicine, I've been in for 2 appointments relatively recently, and I have a follow up scheduled in a couple weeks, but they wouldn't budge.
I understand the policy, and it makes sense for things like opiods, antibiotics, and other medications, but it seems to make less sense for something like heartburn medication where the original rx is limited to a specific quantity due to insurance restrictions.
Am I crazy for thinking they are being unreasonable for not giving me a refill without me paying for another visit in this instance? The medicine doesn't appear to be working, as I've noticed no change in the level of phlegm over the last 30 days, so I'm going to stop taking it when it runs out. But if it worked, would they expect me to do a telehealth visit and pay a copay every 30 days to get a long term medication renewed each time?
