Inevitably we all need prescription medications whether to battle a seasonal sinus infection or to treat a long-term chronic condition. What we don’t need is to pay top dollar for these often high-dollar prescription drugs.
Tips to Save Money on Prescription Drugs
Be a saavy consumer, be sure and ask your doctor if the high priced brand name medication he or she prescribed can be replaced by a low cost, just-as-effective, generic drug. This alone can save you thousands of dollars on your annual prescription drug tab.
Use the following resources to save big on prescription medications:
- RXSavingsPlus.com provides several useful tools to become a smart prescription drug shopper including a cost calculator that allows you to search by drug name and then compare the brand name with available generics as well as the cost of buying your drugs online or through a pharmacist. Here’s an example of the 93% savings you’ll obtain by buying the generic drug rather than the popular brand name drug:
Buying the Generic results in a whopping 93% savings
Where a generic isn’t an option, RXSavingsPlus provides brand name drug savings with its free prescription medication discount card. They say that you can obtain savings averaging 22% over the regular retail price of popular drugs. Enjoy savings at CVS/pharmacy, Target, Rite Aid and 60,000 participating pharmacies nationwide. In addition to generic vs brand name cost comparisons, you can use their site to access medication fact sheets and other important information on the prescriptions you take.
- Speaking of Target, they along with Walmart and other national chains are now offering access to generics for as low as $4 for a 30 day supply. In the example above, this price would reduce the low $175 dollar annual supply cost to a mere $48 for a hard to believe savings of 98% over the name brand prescription.
- Find out if there’s a $4 generic for you at Target.
- Does Walmart carry your medication as a $4 generic? (Walmart offers additional savings with free home delivery of a 90 day supply for $10.)
For additional online prescription savings, check out PSCard.com which touts savings of up to 50% on brand name drugs when you sign up for their free prescription savings card. PSCard also provides a drug cost calculator as well as a convenient pharmacy locator. The Pharmacy Discount Network trumpets even bigger savings of up to 75% when you apply for their free discount drug card. Finally, take a click to RxfreeCard.com where you’ll save up to 80%, according to them, on medications for your family AND your pets!
As long as you’re on a savings tear be sure to check out available benefits and savings you might be entitled to through your existing insurance coverage, organizations like AARP or AAA, and industry groups you might belong to. Finally, check out the drug manufacturer’s websites as they often offer to pay your copay rather than lose your business to a generic drug rival.
Finally, drugwatch is a good resource for information on Prescription Drugs in general, including drugs which may no longer be available and legal actions against pharmaceutical companies.
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