Prior Authorization redux

I met with my psychiatrist last week. I reported that the Sonata wasn't helping much and that I'd probably do just as well on the Lunesta. So, he wrote a new prescription for Lunesta which I dropped off at the local pharmacy.

When I returned to the pharmacy, the pharmacist told me that the medication required prior authorization. This is a medication that, except for one month, I've taken for about a year and half. The pharmacist faxed the necessary form to the doctor's office.

Today, I called the pharmacy and learned that the prescription hadn't been approved. I called the insurance company and learned that the medication required two prior authorization - one for the medication itself and one for the quantity. The insurance company had approved the request for the med, but hadn't done anything about the quantity. If I hadn't called, no one at the insurance company would have told us that we needed this second approval. The kicker is that I'd had a prior prior authorization on the quantity, but that authorization expired in February. So, the person on the phone took down all of the information and said that she would contact the doctor. Why do I have a feeling that I've been to this movie before?

BTW, it's not only patients who struggle with the mishegas that is the prior authorization process. Doctors get frustrated as well, as indicated in this article, Prior Authorization: The Bane of Doctors - World of Psychology.