There are two kinds of medications in the United States, prescription medications and over-the-counter medications. Prescription medications include antibiotics, birth control pills, antidepressants, asthma inhalers, certain pain medications, and cough syrup with codeine. To get prescription medications, you must have permission from a doctor or nurse practitioner, and you must go to a pharmacy.
Can I use the MIT Pharmacy?
If you have a prescription from a doctor or nurse practitioner at MIT Medical, you can get the medication from the MIT Pharmacy:
- If you have the MIT Affiliate Extended Insurance Plan, the MIT Student Extended Insurance Plan, or one of the MIT employee health plans, this will be the best place for you to get your prescription medication. With all of these health insurance plans, you will have a copay for prescriptions at the MIT Pharmacy. This means you will pay for only a small portion of the medication’s cost.
- If you don’t have an one of those plans, you may still use the MIT Medical Pharmacy to fill prescriptions from doctors or nurse practitioners at MIT Medical, but you will probably have to pay full price. Afterwards, you can get a form from your insurance company and fill it out to ask them to pay part of the cost. But instead, it might be easier and less expensive to use another local pharmacy that accepts your insurance plan. See “Getting care if you don’t have MIT insurance” for a list of local pharmacies.
How to get your prescription from the MIT Pharmacy
Most of the time, when doctors or nurse practitioners at MIT Medical prescribe medications, they will not give you a paper prescription. Instead, they will send the prescription to the MIT Pharmacy electronically. To get the prescription, just go to the pharmacy, give them your name, and tell them you are waiting for your prescription. When your medication is ready, they will call your name, and you can go to the counter to pick it up.
When you need a new prescription...
If your home doctor has prescribed medication for you, try to bring at least a one- or two-month supply of that medication with you when you come to the US. If you need to get prescription medication in the US, you will have to see a doctor or nurse practitioner here to get a prescription—even if you already have a prescription for that medication from another country.
What should you do when you run out of a medication that a doctor or nurse practitioner at MIT Medical prescribed for you? If you need more, you will have to request a refill. There are several ways to do this:
- Request the refill online through HealthELife
- Call the 24-hour prescription refill line at 617-253-0202
- Stop by the pharmacy and fill out a prescription request form with the medication name or prescription number.
But remember, to refill some medications, you might have to visit your provider again.
Learn more about the MIT Pharmacy:
