Medication Center

For general information on medications (side effects, storage concerns, drug interactions, and the benefits of prescribing generics), you may visit www.caremark.com.

Medications Obtained Through the Pharmacy Benefit

For those drugs that process through the member's pharmacy benefit (e.g. the use of a retail, mail order, or specialty pharmacy), please refer to our Commercial (1 784.75 kB) and Medicare ( Advantage Plus/Preferred Advantage (pdf 2.84 MB) or Retiree Advantage (pdf 2.81 MB) ) formulary documents to determine if a prior authorization is needed.  If prior authorization is needed, Commercial Criteria and Medicare Prior Authorization Criteria  (pdf 773.08 kB) or Medicare Step Therapy Criteria  (pdf 68.64 kB) are available for download.  

When initiating a prior authorization request, the following forms may be used:

Commercial members: 

• Medication Prior Authorization Request Form (14 15.23 kB)
• Caremark Specialty Enrollment Form (pdf 42.84 kB) - if the drug is marked as "specialty" on the Commercial criteria, this form should be utilized for all new Commercial prescriptions under the Pharmacy Benefit (in addition to the form above).  "Specialty" medications must be obtained through the Caremark Specialty Pharmacy Services in order for it to be covered.  Upon completion, the enrollment form should be faxed to Caremark and the Capital Health Plan Pharmacy Services Department (fax numbers are included at the top of the form).

Medicare members (although available, these forms are not required to be used):

• Request for Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage Determination Form (pdf 37.63 kB)
• Request for Redetermination of Medicare Prescription Drug Denial Form (20 45.52 kB)

For more information on prescription drug coverage for our Commercial members, visit the "About Your Medications" page of our Commercial member website.

For more information on prescription drug coverage for our Medicare members, including their rights to request a coverage determination or redetermination, make a complaint, file a grievance, or request an appeal, visit our Medicare website.

Note: the Formularies and Criteria are updated on a monthly basis.  Please review these documents regularly for the most current information.

Medications Obtained Through the Medical Benefit

For those drugs that process through the Medical benefit, please refer to the attached table of drugs (14 20.87 kB) for a list of drugs which require prior authorization.  If prior authorization is needed, the Commercial Criteria will be utilized for Commercial members, and Original Medicare guidelines will be utilized for Medicare members (National Coverage Determinations and Local Coverage Determinations can be found on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services website.

The codes in the table are for informational purposes only and may be updated as new codes are identified for the drugs listed.

Note: the table is updated on a monthly basis.  Please review this section regularly for the most current information.

Safe Practices for Medications

Below are some websites to the Food and Drug Administration and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices that contain important information on patient safety:

• List of Error Prone Abbreviations, Symbols, and Dose Designations
• List of Confused Drug Names
• List of High Alert Medications
• Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Drug Recalls, Market Withdrawals, and Safety Alerts
• USP-ISMP Medication Error Reporting Program

Capital Health Plan Pharmacy Network

Capital Health Plan contracts with over 64,000 pharmacies nationwide. To locate a pharmacy in our network, use our pharmacy locator. Capital Health Plan members may also contact Caremark’s customer service department at 1-800-966-5772.