The grace period for the new mandatory mail-order program for long-term medications ended April 1. The DC 37 Health and Security Plan will no longer provide drug coverage for participants who seek to continue to fill prescriptions for maintenance medications at neighborhood pharmacies.

The plan will, however, still permit participants to get up to three refills of new prescriptions of maintenance drugs at pharmacies before requiring them to use the mail-order program.

The plan implemented the new program on Jan. 1 because of the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs. As part of the mandatory mail-order program, participants may obtain medication for up to a year before getting a new prescription.

“Before the mail-order program became mandatory in January, you had to ask your doctor for a new prescription every six months,” said Rosaria R. Esperon, administrator of the plan. “To make the program more convenient, we extended that period to a year.” People on maintenance drugs should ask their doctors for one-year supplies (90-day prescriptions with three refills) to avoid having to make an office visit every six months.

For information about the mail-order program, call the plan’s drug administrator, Express Scripts, at 1-800-233-7139. You may obtain a postage-free mail-order envelope by visiting the plan at union headquarters or by calling 212-815-1531.