Drug Benefits

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Benefits

When you fill a prescription, just show your identification card to the pharmacist.

In 2009, members have a $0 co-pay for generic medications and preferred multi-source drugs. The co-pay for all other medications is either $3.20 or $6.00, depending on the amount of extra help you receive.

If you have questions, please contact us.

1-866-211-1777 (toll-free)
1-866-404-9507 (TTY)

Our hours of operation are weekdays, Monday through Friday, from 8AM to 8PM, and also on Saturdays and Sundays from November 15th to March 1st. Someone is available, however, 24-hours a day, if assistance is needed. Interpreter services are available upon request.

Prior Authorization Criteria

SWH requires you [or your physician] to get prior authorization for certain drugs. This means that you will need to get approval from SWH before you fill your prescriptions. If you don’t get approval, SWH may not cover the drug. The following document provides a list of drugs that require Prior Authorization.

Download the 2010 SWH Prior Authorization Criteria (PDF)

To download the SWH Prior Authorization Criteria, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, click here to download and install a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader or click on the Adobe Acrobat Reader icon below.

To search an Adobe PDF file using Adobe Acrobat Reader, click on the "Search" icon (the button with the binoculars) on the Acrobat file toolbar or choose "Edit > Search" from the Acrobat menu. In the "Search PDF" window that opens, type in the word or phrase you are looking for and click on "Search".

The cursor will jump to the first place in the document that word or phrase appears and a search results box will also appear listing all the occurrences of that word or phrase. You can jump to any particular instance of the word or phrase by clicking on that item in the results box. You can also use the "Edit > Search Results > Next Result" or "Edit > Search Results > Previous Result" in the Acrobat menu to navigate forwards or backwards to the next item.

Contract Termination

If your prescription drug coverage is provided under a contract with Medicare, your coverage is not guaranteed beyond the end of the current contract year. In the event that Medicare or SWH terminates or chooses not to renew the contract between SWH and Medicare, as allowed by law, this may end your coverage. If this occurs, you will be able to choose another plan without incurring a late enrollment penalty, as long as you do so within the time period required by Medicare.

This plan is available to anyone aged 65 or older and who has both NYS Medicaid and Medicare.

The benefit information provided herein is a brief summary, but not a comprehensive description of available benefits. Additional information about benefits is available to assist you in making a decision about your coverage. This is an advertisement, for more information contact the plan.

Quantity Level Limits

For certain drugs, SWH limits the amount of the drug that SWH will cover. For example, SWH provides 34 tablets per prescription for Abilify 10mg. This may be in addition to a standard one-month or three month supply. The following document provides a list of drugs that require Quantity Level Limits.

Download the 2010 SWH Quantity Level Limits (PDF)

To download the SWH Quantity Level Limits, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, click here to download and install a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader or click on the Adobe Acrobat Reader icon below.

Step Therapy

In some cases, SWH requires you to first try certain drugs to treat your medical condition before we will cover another drug for that condition. For example, if Drug A and Drug B both treat your medical condition, Senior Whole Health Plus of New York may not cover drug B unless you try Drug A first. If Drug A does not work for you, SWH will then cover Drug B. The following document provides a list of drugs that require Step Therapy.

Download the 2010 SWH Step Therapy Algorithms (PDF)

To download the SWH Step Therapy Algorithms, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, click here to download and install a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader or click on the Adobe Acrobat Reader icon below.

Last modified: 04/01/2010