Translate the words before you choose.

Ask for these words to be made clear

• Which ingredient does the work?

  The part intended to produce a drug's effect is called its active ingredient.

• Is this a prepared product or a medicine made to order?

  To compound a medicine is to prepare it to order. A pharmacist or doctor may prepare it. A larger business registered with the US drug agency, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), may also do so. These registered businesses make batches of medicines and need not be licensed pharmacies.

• What sort of visit is being offered?

  Telehealth is care by video, phone or online exchange, rather than in the same room.

• What is the plan agreeing to pay?

  Ask the insurer to explain its answer without shorthand.

Approval and registration

FDA approval means the agency has reviewed a specific medicine for specific treatment uses.

A compounded medicine has not gone through that approval review.

FDA registration means a business has entered its details on the agency’s register. FDA registration does not mean the agency has approved the business or its medicine.

The insurance words

A plan's formulary is its list of covered medicines. Prior authorization is the plan's agreement to pay, which it needs to give first.