Here is how to save a fortune in prescription drug costs. It DOES work.

[dixiegrrrrl]

By now most everyone knows that drug prices can vary widely even in the same area.

I have to take a prescribed drug that costs anywhere from $250 to $600.00 per month, for 30 pills, depending on where in town I buy it.

$850 to $1220 for 90 days.

And I have NO drug insurance.

Last month I got 30 day generic supply for 21.49.
and a 90 day supply at another store for 35.00

I used a online coupon from goodrx.com
Just printed it out and much to my surprise 2 different pharmacies accepted it.

Tomorrow I refill the 30 day script for 21.49.

Goodrx is not the only source for cheap drugs.

rxoutreach.org also can get me the drug ( via mail) for the same cheap prices. I have not tried them yet,
BUT
they are approved by the VIPPS Accredited Pharmacy list
https://nabp.pharmacy/programs/vipps/vipps-accredited-pharmacies-list/

rxoutreach.org requires some information, like income, you can punch that in the landing page to see if you qualify, before giving them any other info.
Their income limits are fairly high, so most people should qualify.

Using these coupons are sometimes cheaper than any insurance co-pay or deductible.
You may want to plug in your meds and see what the coupon price is.
You may find putting in your location gives a better price, but you can use the coupon without entering your zip code.

[Stuart G]

1. k and r...thank you

[TheDebbieDee]

2. Great info. Not looking a gift-horse in the mouth, but what if they stop making the coupons...

You may need to take these meds for the rest of your life...

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Then I would go to this:

http://www.needymeds.org/discountdrugprogram.taf?_function=bydrug&drugid=2946

You plug in the name of the drug, a new page comes up with all the places that give you a deep discount.

There is always more than ONE way to get what you need.

[safeinOhio]

17. Speaking of gift-horses

I get mine real cheap on line from vet supply places.

[Warpy]

3. Every little bit helps

My drugs are all on the cheap drug list at either Wally or Costco except the anti rejection drops for my borrowed cornea. Those vary widely at the same store, depending on generic supplier. Since I can get 4 months out of one little bottle, the upper price of $80 doesn't hurt that much. However, I've noticed a couple of other drugs bouncing around also as generics are snapped up by predatory "investors" like Shkreli.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. Yeah, same thing happened to me..

One of my 10.00 Wal-Mart drugs went to $115.00!!!!!
The community pharmacy had it for 65.00, still too high.
I used a coupon for $25.00 last month.

fortunately it is a drug I use occasionally.

Desperately wish we lived within reasonable distance of Costco.

Hmmm...wonder if they do mail order drugs.....hmmmm

[Runningdawg]

6. I used a coupon from goodrx

even though I have insurance, because even with the insurance I take a med that cost $100 a month.
My pharmacist took the coupon, then he took my name address and SS#. I asked him why. He said they enter your info into the database when you use the coupon and it is a ONE TIME price. They take your info so you can't hop from drug store to drug store using more than one coupon.
Maybe it will be different for you.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. Well, yes and no.

You can use one coupon at one place, but another coupon elsewhere for a different script.

what I did was get the 30 day at one pharmacy, and then when I realized it actually worked, called my doc who wrote a 90 day script which I got elsewhere with another coupon.
( this is for a drug which is not a controlled substance).

I got 800.00 of meds for 50.00.
4 months supply which gives me time to find more resources.

Tomorrow I refill the 30 day script, and am taking in the a copy of the original coupon I used, plus a newer one I printed today.
I am curious to see if the first coupon is valid for re-fills, since it says on the website to hold onto it for re-fills.

More resources:
http://www.needymeds.org/discountdrugprogram.taf?_function=bydrug&drugid=2946

[csziggy]

21. I registered with GoodRX and got a prescription card from them

Last year when my pharmacy coverage was not as good and two of my drugs were very expensive. Once I gave my pharmacy the card information they gave me the discounts the rest of the time I needed them.

They do not send spam, just an occasional informational email on your registered drugs.

[dixiegrrrrl]

23. I had hesitated to use the card because I did not know the % off it would give me.

Whereas with the coupon I know the exact price to pay.

[csziggy]

27. Once you are registered you can check the prices each month before you fill your prescription

You can also print out the results to take to the pharmacy and discuss it with them if they try to charge you a different price. I had no problems with my regular pharmacy other than one medicine that was only discounted the first month - but since I had checked online with GoodRX I knew to expect it. I took my GoodRX card and the empty bottle to a different pharmacy and got a much better deal than the full price. For the rest of last year I simply got that medicine through the other pharmacy and the rest from my regular one - the prices on my other medicines were better at my regular pharmacy so I didn't move them.

[Eleanors38]

7. Thank you for this. I have A, B, and a medigap that absorbs deducts, but no drug

Coverage outside of a hospital setting. Planning ahead just gets faster.

[Divine Discontent]

8. Good post. And FYI everyone, GoodRx has an App

And it's permissions aren't much of personal data grabbers like other apps can be.

[tonyt53]

10. Another thing to do is to ask your doctor if there is a less expensive drug that does the same thing

There usually is.

[Sherman A1]

11. Thanks for posting

everything helps.

[trof]

12. K&R

[hunter]

18. My brother lives close enough to Mexico that he gets his meds there.

I'd feel a little more comfortable with Canadian pharmacies, but my brother has got few affordable options, even with Obamacare and manufacturer coupons.

As usual with our insurance, my wife and I pay many thousand dollars for meds until September or October and then everything is "free" until January.

But not really.

One of my drugs costs about $200 a month in the U.S.A..

From a Canadian mail order pharmacy it's $90, in Mexico it's $40.

It's too bad our U.S. congress is owned by the insurance and pharmaceutical industries.

I'm a socialist when it comes to medicine. I'd like to see new drugs developed in very well-funded university settings, and the results of this research released to the public domain so new lifesaving drugs could be manufactured by anyone, worldwide, in a well-regulated environment. Every lifesaving drug would be "generic."

I'd also like to see the most egregiously murderous owners of drug patents be subject to a corporate death penalty, their patents declared invalid, their corporate names and trademarks put to death, their shareholders left ragged and flapping in the wind. Martin Shkreli and EpiPen fiascoes would be put down with extreme prejudice. Conflating development and marketing costs would be a crime.

Private developers of new drugs could assured reasonable profits, but no more. They wouldn't allowed to hold people with serious health problems hostage.

[pnwmom]

19. Do any of these coupons work with brand names?

Sometimes I have to take them.

[dixiegrrrrl]

20. Go to the site, it has a search box.

Plug in your drug and see if it works for you.

Needymeds site also gives links of a LOT of places that help with med prices.

Here is their page that mentions brand name drugs.


http://www.needymeds.org/brand-drug

[pnwmom]

26. Thanks!

[csziggy]

24. Some brand names, but not all

And the terms can change.

One of my medicines was $280 under my old insurance. With GoodRX it was $20 one month from my regular pharmacy but after that it jumped back to full price. GoodRX had a better deal with a different chain pharmacy and for the rest of the year it was $40 a month.

I got so I checked the prices from GoodRX every month but after that first jump they didn't change. I haven't used them for a year - the insurance I had last year paid everything after my co-pay was reached and the insurance I have this year has a better formulary that has reduced my copays to a very manageable level.

[pnwmom]

25. Thanks!

[spanone]

22. K&R...

[Jim Beard]

28. I'm an old codger and when I get in the doughnut hole

I order from Canada. I have learned to check ahead of time to determine which ones are cheaper in the "hole" from Canada.

[lostnfound]

32. Also check pharmaceutical company websites, and appeal insurance

One new drug for a family member cost me was supposed to cost $3400 per month. Insane, right?. The pharmacy suggested to check the drug company website. Turns out they have a $12,000 annual waiver -- that covered is for most of three months, and then the calendar year changed, so it started over. This year the dose doubled and the price also went up, to $7400 per month. But a second appeal on insurance succeeded, so copay is only $54 a month.

I had one month where I paid full price.

[dixiegrrrrl]

33. Needymeds.org lists all the companies that do that.

In fact, I originally went to the drug maker to see what they could offer, but they do not cover my drug, most likely cause it is an older generic one.

But still...can you imagine any sane world where a generic drug costs 300.00 to 600.00 a month????

[dixiegrrrrl]

35. kicking for the post weekend, post hurricane group. n/t

[Lifelong Protester]

36. Thank you and bookmarking for later.

Good luck to you in your battle.