Express Scripts Fax Number for Prescribers and Members

Prior authorization for the prescriber’s office

Express Scripts asks prescribers to use electronic prior authorization first. If you cannot, its prior authorization page says to call (800) 753-2851 or to fax the general request form or a state form to the number on the form. The general request form prints (877) 251-5896, and for an urgent request it gives (800) 417-8164. For a Medicare Part D member, the same page links coverage review information for Medicare plan members, so check there for the line your request takes.

A new prescription is a separate route. Express Scripts’ order form tells members to have the doctor call (888) 327-9791 for faxing instructions.

Express Scripts does not accept prescription faxes from members

The Home Delivery Order Form lists fax as an option and then qualifies it: have your doctor call for faxing instructions, because faxes can “only be accepted from a doctor’s office”. The prescriber fax form repeats the rule on the page itself.

So a member who faxes in a photographed prescription has not started an order. The fax is received and not filled, and the wait continues. Express Scripts publishes no fax number for members.

What to do instead

Express Scripts gives members four routes to home delivery, none of which is faxing a prescription yourself:

• Ask your prescriber to send it electronically to Express Scripts Home Delivery. This is the fastest route and needs nothing from you but the request.
• Order online or in the Express Scripts app, choosing the medicine and checking out, when the prescription is already on file.
• Call the toll-free number on the back of your member ID card and ask to switch that prescription to home delivery.
• Mail the completed Home Delivery Order Form with the original prescription and payment.

Controlled substances in schedule II cannot be faxed by anyone, prescriber included. The rule is federal, not Express Scripts’ own.

What you can fax about a prescription

Faxing still has a role, just not for the prescription itself:

• A coverage determination or exception request for a drug that is not covered, which goes to the department named in your plan documents
• An appeal of a denied drug claim, using the fax number in your Evidence of Coverage or on the denial letter
• Authorization letting a spouse or caregiver speak to the plan on your behalf
• Documents your plan has specifically asked you to send

Each of those has a plan-specific destination. The number is on the letter you received, or on the back of your ID card.

How to fax a prescription-benefit document without a fax machine

When you do have a document and a number, create a free FaxTerra account with an email address, upload the document as a PDF or as phone photos, enter the fax number your plan gave you, and send. Small documents send free within your monthly free pages, with a delivery confirmation by email.

See how to send a fax for accepted files and page limits, the Optum Rx guide for a pharmacy benefit manager that does publish member-facing appeal and coverage lines, and faxing medical records for the wider picture.