CVS Health encourages patients to pick up medications, supplies as Hurricane Delta approaches

CVS Health is actively preparing for Hurricane Delta’s landfall in the Gulf Coast region.

"Our priority is the safety of our employees, customers and members, and we’re committed to providing our communities access to the products and services they need to prepare for the storm. Our stores comply with all local evacuation orders and we’ll re-open any closed stores as soon as it is safe to do so. If a store is forced to close for two or more days, the pharmacy’s phone lines will be rerouted to a nearby open CVS Pharmacy so patients may continue to access their prescriptions. We encourage customers who have scheduled a COVID-19 test at any of our stores in the area to call the store to confirm it is open," the company said.

CVS Pharmacy has been reaching out to its patients via text message and email where possible to remind them to refill prescriptions. In addition, through CVS Caremark, CVS Health’s pharmacy benefit manager, the company has activated a process to provide one-time emergency refills of a 10-day supply of medication for plan members in impacted areas. Patients within the emergency area taking specialty medications filled by CVS Specialty will be contacted to discuss alternate delivery arrangements, if needed. And through our Aetna Business Unit, our clinical response teams have expanded their engagement with Medicare and Commercial members in potentially impacted counties in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida to ensure member safety, access to emergency services and continuity of care.

CVS Health also offers the following tips for assuring prescription needs are met for those potentially impacted by Hurricane Delta:

• Follow local evacuation orders. Get to a safe location first and refill your medications at the nearest pharmacy. This allows you to avoid potentially long lines at your local pharmacy, and you won’t need to needlessly delay your evacuation.

• Take a waterproof bag with your current medication – even if the bottle is empty. The information on the prescription label will help pharmacy staff with refill requests. Heat, humidity and sunlight can degrade the effectiveness of medicine, so try to protect it from extreme weather conditions.

• Keep a written record of your current prescriptions in your valuable papers files. If you are taking several prescription drugs, it’s an especially good idea to keep a record of your current dosage and doctor’s contact information.

CVS Health said it is in contact with local disaster relief organizations in order to help local communities respond to and recover from the storm.