2025 Blue Cross and Blue Shield Service Benefit Plan - FEP Blue Focus
Section 5(f). Prescription Drug Benefits
Page 92

We will send each enrollee an FEP Blue Focus identification card, which covers pharmacy and medical benefits.

There are important features you should be aware of. These include:

• Who can write your prescriptions. A physician or dentist licensed in the United States, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands, or, in states that permit it, a licensed/certified provider with prescriptive authority prescribing within their scope of practice must write your prescriptions.

• Where you can obtain them.

You may fill prescriptions at a pharmacy that participates in our nationwide network. The network includes retail pharmacies and Specialty pharmacies. You may also receive your medication from a long-term care pharmacy when your care is handled in or by a long-term care facility. You will receive information on how to obtain a copy of the pharmacy directory, which lists all pharmacies participating in our network, in your enrollment package. You may also go online to our webpage, www.fepblue.org/medicarerx/resources for a complete listing.

Network retail pharmacies may offer options for ordering prescription drugs online. Drugs ordered online may be delivered to your home and these online orders are part of the Retail Prescription Drug Program described in this section.

• What is covered.

We use a closed formulary.

If you purchase a drug that is not on the formulary, you will pay the full cost of that drug.

The FEP Blue Focus Formulary includes a list of preferred drugs that are safe, effective and appropriate for our members and are available at lower costs than other drugs.

Some drugs, nutritional supplements, and supplies are not covered; we may also exclude certain U.S. FDA-approved drugs when multiple generic equivalents/alternative medications are available. If you purchase a drug, nutritional supplement, or supply that is not covered, you will be responsible for the full cost of the item.

Notes:

• Before filling your prescription, please check the FEP Blue Focus Formulary drug list and tier assignment of the drug. Other than changes resulting from new drugs or safety issues, the preferred drug list is updated periodically during the year and not considered a benefit change.
   
• Member cost-share for prescription drugs is determined by the tier to which a drug has been assigned. To determine the tier assignments for formulary drugs, we work with the CVS Caremark National Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, a group of physicians and pharmacists who are not employees or agents of, nor have financial interest in, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Service Benefit Plan. The Committee meets quarterly to review new and existing drugs to assist us in our assessment. Drugs determined to be of equal therapeutic value and similar safety and efficacy are then evaluated on the basis of cost. The Committee’s recommendations, together with our evaluation of the relative cost of the drugs, determine the placement of formulary drugs on a specific tier. Using lower cost preferred generic drugs will provide you with a high-quality, cost-effective prescription drug benefit.

Your cooperation with our cost-saving efforts helps keep your premium affordable. Our payment levels are generally categorized as:

Tier 1: Includes generic drugs
Tier 2: Includes preferred brand-name drugs
Tier 3: Includes non-preferred brand-name drugs
Tier 4: Includes preferred specialty drugs

You can view the formulary on our website at www.fepblue.org. If you do not find your drug on the formulary, or the preferred drug list, please call 800-624-5060, TTY: 711 for assistance. Changes to the formulary are not considered benefit changes.

Any savings we receive on the costs of drugs purchased under this Plan from drug manufacturers are credited to the reserves held for this Plan.

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