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FREE Meds for Military: Naval Base Kitsap

By
Real Estate Agent with Realty Station

I've been a navy spouse for eight years now, and was a navy brat for more than, well, I won't tell my age.  I like to think I am a pretty well-informed military spouse, but I had no idea how easy it was to get over-the-counter meds free from the Bremerton Naval Hospital until recently!military, American flag -- Go Navy!

I had heard that you could get certain meds free, but I always assumed that it would be a huge pain in the rear to do so, like so many "benefits" of the military are.  But my good friend, Barbara A., told me to go check out the drive-through refill pharmacy at Jackson Park, near the Bremerton Naval Hospital.

Sure enough!  It only took ten minutes, and I didn't even have to get out of my car.  A really cool thing, especially since I am on crutches right now and had my three year old son in the car.

Take the second right turn of of Austin Drive into the Jackson Park navy housing complex, and the refill pharmacy is immediately on your right.  As you pull in to the drive-through window, you will see a box of forms on the driver's side.  Grab a form for each of your family members, and fill it out as you wait in line or pull back into a parking spot to fill it out if the line os short.

Military is allowed 3 unique products per family member in any 30 day period.  I got adult acetamenaphine, children's liquid acetamenophine, cough suppresant, antacid, and a cream for hubby's athletes foot (welcome to hot days on deployment in the gulf in bad shoes and socks!).  Free!

Do understand that these are not name-brand products, but they have the same ingredients and work just as well.  When you realize how much it would have cost me to buy these items in a drug store, it was definitely worth the drive and a few minutes of my time.  And, they are open on Saturdays!

PS  I thought I was the only navy spouse who didn't know about this, but then I ran into my friends and past clients Chris and Tammy K. at Wal-mart, and they were surprised that it was so easy too!

Comments (13)

Tom Davis
Harrington ERA,DE Homes For Sale, $$ Save $$ Buy Today ! - Dover, DE
FREE Delaware Homes Search!, $$ Save $$ - Find Homes! Delaware Realtor

Interesting well good luck to all of you serving in the military!  We get a lot of military referrals in Delaware due to the Dover Air Force Base Nearby...thanks for post.

Delaware Realtor Tom Davis: An Agent In DE

Mar 10, 2008 06:29 PM
Marlene Scheffer
Realty Station - Bremerton, WA
Realtor to Kitsap County, WA
Tom, I'm certain they have a similar program at Dover, it's just the details that will be different!
Mar 10, 2008 06:52 PM
Kris Wales
Keller Williams Realty - Lakeside Market Center - Macomb, MI
Real Estate Blog & Homes for Sale search site, Macomb County MI
Now you have me curious if our pharmacy/medical center at SANG has this same benefit.  Thanks for bringing it to attention Marlene.
Mar 10, 2008 09:53 PM
Karen Kruschka
RE/MAX Executives - Woodbridge, VA
- "My Experience Isn't Expensive - It's PRICELESS"
Marlene,  It is good that military personnel can get free otc medications - every little biy can help them,  Karen
Mar 11, 2008 03:08 AM
Marlene Scheffer
Realty Station - Bremerton, WA
Realtor to Kitsap County, WA

Kris, I bet they do.  Just give them a call and ask them for details about free over-the-counter meds, and I'm sure they will give you the specifics.

Karen,  you better believe every little bit helps!  And Northern Virginia is surrounded by military bases...

Mar 11, 2008 06:38 AM
Margaret Woda
Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. - Crofton, MD
Maryland Real Estate & Military Relocation

Marlene, this is a great post and you should enter it into the Military Relocation Contest!

Do you get your prescription drugs there, too?  We get ours at the USNA, and it's very convenient!

Mar 11, 2008 07:05 AM
Marlene Scheffer
Realty Station - Bremerton, WA
Realtor to Kitsap County, WA
Margaret, I will enter it if you think I should.  I haven't really done any other blog posts regarding military this month, but I hope to do so.  We do get our prescription drugs at Naval Hospital Bremerton unless it is a brand-name that they do not carry.  In most cases the substitution is fine, but every now and then I have to have the specific brand, so I end up going outside.  However, with Tricare as our insurance, even that is very inexpensive.
Mar 11, 2008 07:27 AM
Patricia Kennedy
RLAH@Properties - Washington, DC
Home in the Capital
Marlene, this is the least we can do for military families - and I'm glad it's not a hassle!
Mar 11, 2008 09:45 AM
Margaret Woda
Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. - Crofton, MD
Maryland Real Estate & Military Relocation
Marlene - Glad to see you entered this in the contest - it's living proof that a post doesn't have to be long to be worthwhile.  To answer your question, you can enter as many posts as you can write each week.   The idea is to build a body of posts that will be interesting to people at a military installaion near you AND build higher placement for you in the search engines.  You're off to a good start with this.
Mar 11, 2008 11:44 PM
Marlene Scheffer
Realty Station - Bremerton, WA
Realtor to Kitsap County, WA
Thanks, Margaret!  I'll see what else I can come up with this week.  Do you think that posts about local attractions would be a good thing to submit for your contest?
Mar 12, 2008 08:02 AM
Katerina Gasset
The Gasset Group & Get It Done For Me Virtual Services - Provo, UT
Amplify Your Real Estate & Life Dreams!
Marlene- Interesting information for military personal. Just a note to the wise, do not give your kids any form of cough syrups of any kind. They are trying to remove them ALL from the shelves, but the drug makers are fighting it. Katerina
Mar 15, 2008 01:14 PM
Marlene Scheffer
Realty Station - Bremerton, WA
Realtor to Kitsap County, WA

Actually, Katerina, I am fighting it as well.  I only give a little to Adam at night when he has a really bad cough or cold.  We follow the directions to the letter so no overdose should occur, and it does seem to help him. 

The reason they are taking it off store shelves (and did for a couple of days) is that they say there is conflicting evidence on whether it is helpful or not (so they are weighing on the side of it not helping), and they are comparing that with how many stupid parents either don't read the directions or don't know their child's weight and overdose them.  I agree that every parent who chooses to give their child any kind of non-prescription drug should be extremely careful.

Mar 15, 2008 03:45 PM
Marlene Scheffer
Realty Station - Bremerton, WA
Realtor to Kitsap County, WA
Wow, I didn't even realize that I got a group feature for this one, cool!  Thanks!
Mar 15, 2008 03:46 PM