{"id":374069,"date":"2026-07-15T14:35:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T14:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/374069\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T14:35:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T14:35:37","slug":"storms-disrupt-prescriptions-tricare-members-in-greater-houston-can-refill-early-through-july-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/374069\/","title":{"rendered":"Storms disrupt prescriptions? TRICARE members in Greater Houston can refill early through July 25"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOUSTON \u2013 If severe weather has thrown off your routine in the Houston area \u2014 closed roads, pharmacy delays, power outages \u2014 TRICARE beneficiaries can temporarily refill certain prescriptions early under an emergency waiver now in effect through July 25, according to the Defense Health Agency.<\/p>\n

TRICARE is the Department of Defense health insurance program for service members, military retirees and eligible family members.<\/p>\n

How does this impact you?<\/p>\n

This waiver is meant for a simple problem many families run into after major weather: you still need your medication, even when normal systems aren\u2019t working. If you\u2019re in Greater Houston and you can\u2019t get to your usual pharmacy, your prescription label got ruined, or you can\u2019t quickly reach your doctor, the waiver may make it easier to get enough medication to bridge the disruption\u2014without waiting for the standard refill window.<\/p>\n

What to do if you need a refill<\/p>\n

The fastest path is usually to go in person:<\/p>\n

Bring your prescription bottle to a TRICARE retail network pharmacy and ask about an emergency refill.<\/p>\n

If the bottle is gone or the label is unreadable, ask the pharmacy for next steps or contact Express Scripts<\/a> for help.<\/p>\n

If your medication was filled at a large retail chain, another store in that chain may be able to access your information.<\/p>\n

If you can reach your prescribing provider, you can also ask them to send a new prescription to a network pharmacy.<\/p>\n

To locate a TRICARE network pharmacy, beneficiaries can call Express Scripts at 1-877-363-1303.<\/p>\n

Need care but can\u2019t reach your regular doctor?<\/p>\n

The agency also reminded patients that most TRICARE beneficiaries (except active-duty service members) can go to any TRICARE-authorized urgent care center without a referral if their primary care provider isn\u2019t available due to the emergency. For anything that feels life-threatening, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.<\/p>\n

Texas counties included (45)<\/p>\n

Atascosa, Austin, Bandera, Bastrop, Bexar, Blanco, Brazoria, Brewster, Burnet, Caldwell, Colorado, Comal, Crockett, DeWitt, Dimmit, Edwards, Fayette, Fort Bend, Frio, Galveston, Gillespie, Goliad, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Harris, Hays, Jackson, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, La Salle, Lavaca, Lee, Llano, Mason, Matagorda, Maverick, McMullen, Medina, Menard, Pecos, Real, and Schleicher.<\/p>\n

Beneficiaries can also watch for updates on Express Scripts\u2019 Weather Notices<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

Start Here, Houston<\/p>\n

More Stories Like This In Our Email Newsletter<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 If severe weather has thrown off your routine in the Houston area \u2014 closed roads, pharmacy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[7214,39617,5443,2244,56,58,57,26318],"class_list":["post-374069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-defense-health-agency","tag-dha","tag-greater-houston","tag-healthcare","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-tricare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}