If you get your VA prescriptions through the mail, you can rest assured this holiday season: VA is working hard to make sure you continue to get your medications on time, even if there’s an increase in mail volume.
Our Consolidated Mail Order Pharmacy mail team continually monitors the time it takes the U.S. Postal Service to deliver packages to Veterans. We don’t anticipate any delays this year—but if slowdowns do occur, we have backup plans in place.
No delays anticipated
First, if a delivery delay is expected, your VA medical center will fill your prescription earlier.
Then, we’ll work with the Postal Service and your local medical center to make sure your prescription is delivered on time.
If that’s not enough to guarantee on-time delivery, we’ll use FedEx Ground or an overnight delivery service—whatever it takes.
Prescriptions given priority
If you’re concerned that your prescriptions won’t be given priority over other packages by the Postal Service, rest assured that the Postal Service federal account manager has confirmed that this is not the case.
In VA, your prescriptions (and your health) come first—and this holiday season, we’re doing everything we can to make sure you get them when you need them.
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This is total BS, i have been out of my blood pressure meds for 2 days now, ordered them on Dec.26 and can not get any
tracking info. Tried to reorder yesterday and was denied.
This is a real joke in my est,!!
What a joke.
USPS is not delivering in rural areas and the VA could care less.
They tell you to drive hours to the pharmacy to pick up your meds instead of using another carrier like UPS.
When you tell them you can’t drive they basically say too bad.
I have opened cases with USPS and they still don’t deliver.
The VA refuses to work with USPS to solve delivery problems.
Wrong. I have to go to the emergency room tomorrow cause even though i called every day this week asking for my medication, Gainesville Florida said the hell with my script, they filled it three days late, and on a Friday of a holiday weekend. I wont get it in the mail til tuesday and have no way to get it. Even with a ride to go get it they already mailed it so its stuck in a ups warehouse til next year. I called it in back before Christmas on dec 18th. So please quit spouting nonsense you cant back up. Might I add this had happened 3 years in a row on new years holiday. So your script will be delayed and always has been delayed. Stop lying to people.
You have to call your Doctor to Re-up your schedule 2 meds (VA Has to have a new script each time) 3 days before you run out. The VA mail order will over night them if they are due. The problem is schedule 3-4 medications. The mail order pharmacracy techs want to play nurse, causing medications to be delivered late. If you have PTSD or what not, the are supposed to mail schedule three prescriptions 6 days out so they get to you on time. This is not always the case because they don’t want to mail your scripts out early. You have to constantly call them. The VA don’t give a damn about the Vets, they just care about whether Vets are taking meds like they should because they don’t want to be held liable. I had a pharmacy tech tell me “No sir, we like to wait 6 days before you run out to order your meds”…..”She said because people abuse the medication.” Who the hell is she to tell me when I should get my meds that MY DOC prescribes. Takes 8 days for USPS to deliver my meds.. So, my meds are almost always late. They could give a sht.
Thanks for the info.
Are refills automatic or do you have to request each one as needed? Chief
Schedule 2 Drugs need a New Script each time. This is because they don’t want to keep track of 3 months of scripts at a time. Basically they are lazy. P.S We are all Vets, being a Chief doesn’t get you special treatment. Freaking Navy lol.
Good service always
I reorder my Rx’s on MyHealtheVet several weeks before my current supply is consumed. The reordered RX has always been delivered before I am out of Rx’s. Also, on MyHelatheVet, one can place the order as soon as the Rx is received and the reorder is shipped/received before the current supply is consumed.
The VA never gets my insulin to me on time NOW!!!!!! Why are they going to get it here on time now!!!???
It takes 10 days for my med. to get to my from the time they are mailed to me and FedEx won’t come out my driveway they leave my Packagesat the end of my driveway by the road
VA, nor any one else, can mail a schedule 2 narcotic.
Not True At all. I get mine mailed to me through the VA mail order all the time. Your Doc has to submit them 2 days out, and they will over night them.
Yea.. what a load of malarky this article is ! My order for three prescription products was placed by phone on the 8th of Dec. The products have been known to arrive within a three to four day time frame; however this is not the case for this order. Seven days after placing the order, a phone call was placed to the Mountain Home, Tn. Pharmacy. The phone attendants made all kinds of excuses; “We’ll we don’t have a tracking number all the way to ‘the manager is on holiday vacation and there’s nobody here.”
The VAMC , Mountain Home is a sorry excuse full of excuses. The place is like taking a donkey to a library in trying to get them to a level of consistency.
This place has often had to resort to.. “Get in your own car and drive the 60 miles; as we don’t have anyone who will deliver the products to you,”mentality. And, it’s happened more often than not.
This place is a GIANT FAILURE for us; we deserve better than this !
I’m trying to see if my medication that’s order when it would be shipped..
It takes the USPS 5 days to move a package 65 road miles.
I receive my meds from VA Medical Center at Northport, Long Island, New York. The automatic refill procedure is working quite well here and I have nothing but praise for the pharmacy staff at this facility. Also, I need to send praise to my local USPS here in Port Washington, NY. I get a text notification when my prescriptions are due. All I need to do is respond to the text and my meds are sent to my residence. Then as an added bonus, my mail carrier lets me know when my VA Pharmacy package arrives. It’s all about following simple directions or really good luck!
Received my latest medications without a hitch.
I have always been amazed that the VA delivers Rx so quickly. The Rx I order on MyhealetheVet usually takes three or four days to arrive. Interestingly, I live one mile from the Orlando VA Health Care building and could easily pick them up at the counter.
I wish that there was a way on MyHealtheVet to request mail delivery or to pick the Rx up at the pharmacy window. That would save the VA postage and would allow me to receive them quicker.
I have outside insurance with prescriptions. The prices have gone up. Is there a way of finding out what the drug prices are at Veteran’s so that I can compare?
Why are my prescriptions coming out of New Hampshire now instead of Buffalo,were I live. It takes longer to get my scripts.
My VA pharmacy is simply the Best!!! Miami Florida. They are always helpful and courteous. Sending some love to 33125!
One of my medications is not stocked regularly in my local VA so therefore it has to be ordered from another facility. My prescription is only for 30 pills per refill and for over a year I have had to go without this needed prescription for weeks at a time. I constantly contact VA to try and resolve this issue but to no avail. I am currently out of this medication now as I am typing this but online refills state this medication can not be ordered at this time because it is too early for a refill. It takes over 7 days to get my prescriptions once I order them or if I speak with the pharmacist knowing I am out of the medication it takes even longer. VA has forgot about the veteran and only focuses on building more facilities that treat veterans worse than dirt. Thank GOD for community care. It is worth paying high prices out of pocket to stay alive
Sounds like you covered all the bases,
This is fantastic but I’d sure like my prescriptions on time, all year long. I’ve been complaining about not getting my prescription eye drops timely for well over a year now and, frankly, it seems nobody cares, Nobody. I do understand how expensive these drops are and I feel the VA’s top priority is saving money, it’s certainly not putting veteran’s care first, based on my personal experience and stories of many other veterans.
I am out of some of the prescriptions that I recently ordered.
As a retired disabled USArmy Nurse, that lives only 18 minutes from my VA, I know that the VA and USPS can do far better than what is presently occurring. In addition to that I have found after initiating auto refills that I have to still do it manually, it has never taken
In my case you are doing a great job at getting my meds to me on time. Although there have been occasions when they arrived outside the 5-7 business day delivery but not very often and most of my meds are not life threatening. I’ve always had great service from the the VA in all areas and aspects. I wouldn’t use any other medical facility.
I pretty much agree, with you Kenneth.
My major problem is; they keep hanging on to Rxs long after I need or order them, while taking away Meds I use all the way.
va pharm in san antonio are great folks.
Prescriptions are absolutely not being delivered 5-10 days. Both my spouse and I are disabled veterans. Since summer of 2023, they have been taking 2-4 weeks! Don’t know if it’s USPS or VA, but wait time is far too long
Great news!
VA does a great job with this project as they get meds. To us when needed but always good to have a backup plan in place&!
I think it was the Christmas before last. But I was without my several of my medications. I can usually handle it. If they’re a couple days late. But this was 3 weeks. It was the first time I’ve ever went that long. It was terrible. I was shutting down. And there was a nothing I could do about it. It was the worst feeling of abandonment that I’ve ever felt. I couldn’t even go to the mailbox. Because I hated how it felt. To see that it was empty. They did finally come. And I am grateful for that. But no one should ever have to feel that way. Especially during the holidays
Anthony…
I too am a Veteran.. and the agony of your writing is felt by all who have gone through much or all of what you’ve gone through. The service taught us to be tougher than the general public; but there is no need to press the point in medicine. The country is full of ‘right this moment’ conveniences; the medicines should be instantly available to all, not a ‘tought it out’ moment.
In your writing, there are surely others who have much the same grievance and deserve better. We gave so our fellow countrymen and women and children could have a better life; we should be given the very basics of care without fear or pain.
In short, we’ve been used .. and this is now we’re abused… behavior. .
S.M.
Looks good! Thank you!
I appreciate that you feel usps is on top of it but I can assure you they are not. The last 4 or 5 times (all in the last 45 days) it has taken my prescriptions that are sent priority mail have taken 5 to 7 days to arrive leaving me with less than a days meds left when they arrive. These same shipments used to take 24 to 36 hours to arrive.
Please ask usps to do better for all of our vets or adjust your fill dates to anticipate these delays. These meds are critical and cannot be ran out.
for a controlled medication is not as easy!!
Every time for the last few years, control medications will not go out for delivery until 2-4 days past last months delivery. This is wrong, if my doctor wants me to take a medication and prescribes 30 days worth. Then the next refill, I should receive on the 31 day or 1 st day, after last month’s medication ran out. I understand how important it is not to disperse narcotics early but pushing disperse dates out is wrong! On my regular medication I always get a few days early. My narcotic medication is just as important as my blood pressure or cancer medication. No one wants to take
It has been a problem when the VA hospitals and clinics close for extra days and holidays. Again medication perscriptions get backlog.
Finally all the wonky that has gone into new VA computer systems but the systems don’t work. I never know if my request for a refill will get filled, or sent and I usually don’t get tracked
DITTO Mary addisom! Thank you for your input, I don’t feel single out as “flagged”. Just the VA always messing with us.
OUTSTANDING!!!
Thx for addressing this issue
Fantastic. More than could be expected or dreamed of.
Great to know, I do feel better. Thank you for your hard work!
My VA, the Wilkes-Barre VAMC, has performed an amazing job for myself, and all Veterans served by their mail order Pharmacy. My prescriptions began arriving from this facility in 1985. They continue this day. On time! What the article states is true. If there might be a delay, or an upcoming holiday, weather event. Whatever the issue is the WB VAMC utilizes the tool box to its fullest extent. FedEx, UPS, the Postal Service and overnight, next day delivery. They are an extraordinary group of individuals who perform an amazing service. A shout out this holiday season to those pharmacy technicians at the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania VAMC.
The VA supports medication delivery at a very high level!! It’s the Milage payments that needs help!!
Excellent article and very much appreciated.
Much Appreciated As A Disabled Veteran Who Receives Medications Through The Mail, Thanks For The Information!
VA is the GREAST
I’ll be glad when this happens, I’ve had mail from the VA pharmacy go halfway around this country before coming to me. I live 80 miles from the pharmacy and it takes 5 days to get it, sometimes longer, depending on where it goes before coming to me. I cannot depend on it being delivered on any day. I’ve had to go pick it up on many occasions. For fear of running out.
The USPS does a good job getting medication to me. It’s when they use FedEx that has the problem. I’ve gone weeks without my medication because the FedEx delivery person put it either in our mailbox or on top of it and our mailbox is on a busy road and the mailbox is over 1/2 mile away. Friends found one of the boxes with my name on it about 2.5 miles away on a different road.
Great Point there Matt !
You’re not the only one with problems surrounding USPS and UPS and Fedex ( Fedwrecks ).. The UPS and FEDWRECKS drivers repeatedly placed my pharmacy products on the neighbors doorstep; which is .. for them a march down stupid lane… and the neighbor thinks nothing of keeping the parcel for themselves. The managment staff of all three delivery organizations ‘promised’ to have a ‘chat’ with their drivers; aka bla bla to appease the Veteran. .In short, the packages are still delivered to the wrong address and the VAMC still has to resend a huge amount of products and it takes a lot of my time to chase these items down. A point can be made here; “Amazon has their own delivery fleet, as there are a significant number of private couriers who deliver mail or boxes. What is wrong with the VAMC using private/insured couriers or Amazon trucks?
Say.. DUH.. it’s the VAMC.. and they’re about the same as leading a donkey to a library !
You’re not alone fella;… they’ve used us.. and now are abusing us.. sounds like the same old wheel turning us into numbers.. right?
Signed.. One of the .. same.. as if this website is meant to do something.. where it really is nothing more than a place to vent our treatment .. and then we move on.. meaning? .. Nothing ever comes of this crap..
Wonderful to hear that we are all on the same page when it comes to sending and delivering Veteran Medications, even if it needs to be by Pony Express
Thanks again for that super extra effort on the Veteran’s behalf. Raymond
This is BULL SHT! It takes the local (Madison WI) Postal System 4-6 days to go 15 miles to my home.
Thank You VA for oversight on this IMPORTANT NEED!! Has any thought been given to increasing my AMLODIPINE count from 30 each dispensing to 60 or 90 per mailing??
Thanks for this helpful info. My prescriptions have always been delivered on time. Thanks for all you do.
Good news, I’m new to the service but impressed.