According to recent estimates, the average American fills around twelve prescriptions each year. Last year, people filling prescriptions helped the pharmaceutical industry earn nearly $329 billion. The prices for many of these prescriptions are much higher today than the prices that our parents paid for the same types of medications. Fortunately, there are many techniques that you can use to save money on the cost of your prescription drugs. Here are some of my favorite.
Buy Generics
The single most important thing you can do to hold down the cost of your prescriptions is to opt for generic versions of the prescription drugs you need whenever possible. In many cases, the price of the generic version of the medication is around 80% cheaper than the name brand version. The quality of both medications will be the same because by law, medication dose, safety, quality and instructions must be the same. Generic drugs are allowed to differ from brand-name drugs only in appearance and inactive ingredients.
Compare Prices
Many people make the mistake of filling all of their prescriptions at the pharmacy nearest to their doctor or their home, taking it for granted that prescriptions are priced the same across the board. The truth is that there could be a wide discrepancy in the price of a particular prescription from one pharmacy to another. I made this discovery myself when I moved from one area of my city to another and chose to get a regular prescription filled at a different grocery store pharmacy. Imagine my surprise to find that I could save more than $20 on a single prescription simply by driving 2 more miles down the road to a branch of my previous pharmacy.
Since the prices for prescription drugs are not listed on the shelves like most products we buy, comparing prices is a little more difficult. You can always call the pharmacy and ask them what the price would be for a particular medication. Websites like LowestMed and GoodRx compare specific medications at pharmacies within the same zip codes, and sometime even offer coupons for the drugs you are searching for.
Use Mail Order For Repeat Prescriptions
For medications that you take every day or on a fairly regular basis, purchasing them from a mail order company may be your cheapest option. These companies typically sell medications in 90-day quantities at a cheaper per dose rate than bricks-and-mortar pharmacies. Be sure to ask your prescribing doctor’s office and your health insurer if there is a preferred pharmacy they work with regularly, as you may be able to get additional discounts through that pharmacy.