Woman Says Walgreens Told Her to Come Back for Prescription, Then Handed It Over After She Mentioned Her Insurance Was Ending

A woman said a Walgreens pharmacy employee first told her to return later for her prescription, then gave it to her after she mentioned that her health insurance was about to expire.

Melissa Lomuscio, who posts on TikTok under @melissalomuscio, shared a video describing the experience. She said she had phoned the pharmacy earlier that morning and was told the prescription would be ready the same day. But when she got to the store, an employee initially told her to come back another day.

According to Lomuscio, the situation changed once she explained that she was in the middle of switching insurance plans.

Melissa Called Walgreens to Ask if the Prescription Was Ready

Lomuscio opened her video by asking viewers who work in pharmacies, or who understand how pharmacies operate, to help her make sense of what happened.

“Can anybody who works at a pharmacy or just knows how a pharmacy works, please explain to me how they work,” she said.

She said she called Walgreens that morning to ask whether her prescription could be refilled and whether it was ready for pickup.

According to Lomuscio, the employee who answered told her she could collect it that day.

“She said, ‘Yeah, totally. We can do that for you today. Like, come in,’” Lomuscio recalled.

She said she agreed and went to the pharmacy.

At the Counter, She Was Told to Return Later

When Lomuscio arrived, she told the employee at the counter that she was there to pick up her prescription.

“He goes, ‘Ooh. I think it’s coming in tomorrow,’” she recalled.

Lomuscio said she reminded him that she had already called and been told to come in that day. The employee then checked on the prescription and came back with the same message.

“He goes and checks. Comes back. ‘Mmm, yeah. You know, probably just come back tomorrow,’” she said.

She said she accepted that something may have changed after the phone call, but the timing was inconvenient because her insurance was about to run out.

The Prescription Appeared After She Mentioned Her Insurance Change

Lomuscio said the visit happened on the final day of her current insurance coverage, and that she was set to move to a new plan the next day.

She said she mentioned that fact while thinking out loud, explaining that if she returned the next day, she would have to use the new insurance.

“And he was like, ‘Hmm, one second,’” she recalled.

According to Lomuscio, the employee then went to the back of the pharmacy and returned with her prescription.

The timing caught her off guard because she had just been told she would likely need to return later. She did not say what medication it was or whether she ultimately paid with her existing insurance.

She Questioned Why She Had Been Told to Come Back

Lomuscio said she asked the employee about it after he handed over the medication.

“Sir, why didn’t you have it before? Why are you gatekeeping it? Why are you telling me to come back tomorrow when you had it? What is that about?” she recalled asking.

She said she tried to come up with a reason for the original answer, but nothing made sense to her.

She ended the video by asking, “It’s like, why? Is it like a… I don’t know. Does anybody know? Odd.”

Viewers Offered Theories

Commenters responded with a range of explanations for why the prescription was available after she brought up the insurance switch.

One person wrote, “People need to stop using Walgreens and CVS. Find a small privately owned pharmacy or even one at a grocery store.”

Another said, “Because it probably routed to their central fill location and when it does, we aren’t supposed to call it back unless it’s an ’emergency’ or antibiotic, or in your case, a change in insurance would qualify. We could pretty much call anything back; don’t get me wrong, there was just a protocol they want us to follow. Central fill locations fill scripts for the stores. It’s supposed to decrease work level for the techs in the store.”

One viewer added, “I really thought this was a fantasy when you said Walgreens pharmacy answered the phone”