There is good news for PSC-CUNY Welfare Fund participants who have GHI-CBP as their basic health insurance. As of July 1, GHI covers preventive medications without a co-pay under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Preventive medications most commonly prescribed to fund members are contraceptives, but the category also includes vaccines and colonoscopy prep medications. The full ACA list of preventive medications can be found at psccunywf.org.
As of July 1, any preventive medications are free of charge at the pharmacy to those who present a GHI-CBP card along with a doctor’s prescription. GHI members will no longer need to use the Welfare Fund CVS Caremark card for this category of drug.
Employees and non-Medicare retirees enrolled in the fund prescription plan may have up to three different cards to use when filling prescriptions. Members should be prepared to present all three cards at the pharmacy if necessary. For most prescriptions, members use the PSC-CUNY Welfare Fund CVS Caremark prescription drug card which can be used at any pharmacy – CVS, Duane Reade, Rite Aid, Walgreens, independent pharmacies and others.
SPECIAL DRUGS
For injectable and chemotherapy prescriptions, members use the NYC PICA Program Express Scripts prescription drug card. Don’t have a PICA card? Call 212-306-7464.
For diabetes-related prescriptions and supplies, fund members use their NYC Health Benefits Program basic health insurance card (GHI-CBP, HIP-HMO, Empire EPO, etc.)
As of July 1, GHI-CBP members also use their GHI card for specified preventive medications.
CVS Caremark has familiarized its customer care and retail operations with the change in our coverage for preventive medications. Additionally, CVS notified all of their participating non-CVS Pharmacy locations in the New York area. Call the Welfare Fund at 212-354-5363 if you have questions about whether the changes apply to you.
While the switch in coverage for certain prescriptions may be cause for confusion at first, the savings GHI members will experience should outweigh the initial inconvenience.
