If you are like most of us, you are always in search of ways to save money. This is especially true when it comes to health care and prescription costs. Purchasing just one or two prescriptions a month can add up to a lot of money. Luckily, there’s a new way to save.
The Power Of Angie’s List
You probably know about Angie’s List. It’s a great website that features advice on how to save on a wide range of products and services. Recently, eDrugSearch.com was featured as a local expert on Angie’s List. The informative article featured seven ways you can save on your prescriptions. It doesn’t matter whether you need to purchase medication for a one-time illness or for something more chronic. All the tips apply no matter what your circumstance is.
eDrugSearch.com is an Angie’s List “Local Expert”.
At eDrugSearch.com you can save between 50 and 80 percent on your prescription costs. The power of this online site doesn’t just begin and end with prices either. You can also research various prescription drugs, rate or read verified reviews of both the medication you need and the pharmacies you are considering. You can also sign up for the free RX alerts that can be delivered via SMS, phone or email.
Tips For Saving Money
Some of the best expert tips provided by eDrugSearch include the following:
Consider Generic Brands
Many name brand medicines are available as generic at a reduced cost. Talk to your doctor or a pharmacist about switching.
Ask For Samples
Many doctors now offer patients a supply of medication samples for a short-term illness. Even if you need to take a medication for a longer period of time, your MD might be willing to supply you with enough samples to make a significant dent in the purchase price.
Always Shop Around
Some folks assume they are getting the best price at the pharmacy they’ve been going to for years. This is not always the case. Always shop around when you are going on a new prescription or even when renewing an older one. You can use the search feature on eDrugSearch.com to find the best prices available.
If you’re looking to save money on your prescription costs, look no further than eDrugSearch.com. You will be amazed at the money you will save.
USA Today reported recently on mounting pressure on doctors to stop giving free drug samples to their patients. The longstanding practice is under attack from several sources, including –
- Consumer advocates, who say that doctors use free samples to start patients on expensive brand-name drugs, when cheaper generics would do;
- Pharmacists, who say they are being kept out of the loop; and
- Healthcare systems, which say that doctors aren’t completing the necessary paperwork, etc., to track patient outcomes.
Frankly, we have mixed feelings about the no-samples trend. While certainly there is the danger that a doctor might prescribe a more expensive drug simply because he or she has samples on hand (which would cost the patient more in the long run), this obviously isn’t always the case.
What’s more, it’s exactly the kind of situation that a well-informed patient is prepared to handle during a consultation.
As we have advised here before, whenever your doctor prescribes you a new medication, you should always ask these questions (among others):
- Is it a brand-name or generic medication?
- If it is a brand-name medication, is there a cheaper or generic substitute that would work just as well?
- If it is a brand-name medication and there is no generic substitute, can you provide me with free samples of the drug?
You’d be surprised how often asking these simple questions can lower your prescription drug bill. And by asking about generics first, you reduce the risk of being prescribed an expensive drug unnecessarily.
Armed with this information, we encourage you to take advantage of your doctor’s free samples — as long as they last.
I came across this excellent post on Thomas Hawk’s blog. If you’re pinching pennies these days, you must read it.
Here are a few of Tom’s 50 tips:
- Unplug appliances part of the time when not in use. Also unscrew lightbulbs in some places instead of just turning the light off. This especially will help with young children who are not always so good at turning lights off when they are done.
- Try to find free things to do. Watch a kids baseball game (this also reduces stress, watching them play). Go hear a free lecture at a bookstore by an author. Feed the ducks with old bread at the lake. Have a picnic. Play chess or other board games that you pick up for cheap at a local garage sale. Go to a gallery opening for an artist (oftentimes there is free wine and food there too).
- Track every expense for a month. Write down or save receipts for literally everything, even the $2 frozen yogurt that you bought last Tuesday. Sit down and review all of these expenses at the end of the month and try to figure out what you can cut out.
- Always ask for generic prescription drugs instead of the name brand when you fill your prescription.
- Compare drug prices online. Is there something that you found that you really want to buy? Check online first to see if you can buy it cheaper (remember to factor in shipping and tax costs).
I came across a great article at Money Blue Book describing how to take advantage of rebate programs offered by the major drugstore chains. While such programs generally exclude prescription drugs, they are an excellent way to save money on other purchases at these stores. In fact, Money Blue Book reports:
If you can learn to take advantage of drug store rebates, you will find yourself getting a lot of free stuff for your money and winding up with merchandise whose total retail value greatly surpasses what you spent out of pocket.
Ever since I discovered and started actively using drug store rebates, my frugal living life has been transformed for the better. No longer am I paying shocking $3-4 dollars prices for ordinary household items like a roll of toothpaste. I’m not even resorting to generic store brands either. I’m simply taking advantage of the many store rebate deals offered by well known drug store franchises like CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens. Most of these major chains offer great rebates and deals, usually published weekly or monthly.
The blog reports that while the major drug chains mark up their prices significantly higher than supermarkets, they more than make up for it with their rebate offers. They can afford to do this because, statistically, very few people actually follow through and collect their rebates.
Here’s the skinny on the Big Three:
1) CVS – Extra Care Bucks – (Weekly Store Ads) – To find out what items offer CVS Extra Care Bucks (ECB), you will need to take a look each Sunday when the weekly store ads renew. CVS’s rebate program is the best and simply requires you to scan your loyalty card everytime you make a purchase. They are unique in that they offer the Extra Care Bucks as store credit immediately rather than requiring you to clumsily mail receipts in. The store rebate coupon is printed out at the bottom of your store receipt whenever you purchase a rebate item. There is no rebate waiting period anymore. They are available to you right away and you can immediately turn around and flip them into yet another product, potentially yielding even more Extra Care Bucks…
2) Rite Aid – Single Check Rebates – (Weekly Circular) – At the start of each month, Rite Aid publishes a booklet, viewable online, in which it highlights the rewards/rebate offers for the month. Rite Aid offers a traditional rebate program in which customers have to request rebates by providing receipt information to redeem. However, here is the best part – Rite Aid offers an easy and no brainer way for customers to request rebates online rather than having to manually mail them in through snail mail … You can always view your rebate balance online as well.
3) Walgreens – Easy Saver Catalog – (Weekly Ad) – Walgreens publishes their Easy Saver rebate deals in their monthly rebate booklet where they list products with rebate promotions including items that are free after rebate. They also offer Register Rewards every now and then, which operates similar to that of CVS Extra Care Bucks in that you can use the printed coupons for free products on your next purchase for qualifying items.
Read more about it here.
The Associated Press on Wednesday joined in on the recent flurry of media stories offering tips for saving on prescription drugs. The AP’s tips:
1. Use generic medications.
2. Find a lower-cost option, such as an over-the-counter alternative.
3. Shop around.
4. Order by mail.
5. Research state discount programs.
6. Beware of freebies and commercial discount programs.
Read the full story here.
Dr. Edward Jardini has written a valuable book called How to Save on Prescription Drugs, which offers consumers recommendations for reducing their drug expenditures. The Consumerist blog summarizes the tips as follows:
ELIMINATE NONESSENTIAL PRESCRIPTIONS
1. Eliminate medicines that are no longer needed
2. Eliminate medicines that no longer work
3. Eliminate medicines that have never worked
4. Eliminate medicines that were never neededTHINK OUTSIDE THE PRESCRIPTION DRUG BOTTLE
5. Treat with lifestyle changes
6. Use nondrug treatments
7. Prevent disease naturallySTEER CLEAR OF OVERPRICED REDUNDANT DRUGS
8. Don’t “Ask Your Doctor” (for Advertised Drugs)
9. Insist on generic drugs
10. Insist on cheaper medicines with the same class
11. Insist on a cheaper class from the same treatment goalPLAY IT SMART!
12. Cut costs by splitting tablets
13. Don’t treat side effects of one drug with another
14. Comparison-shop
Dr. Jardini wants patients to start by scheduling “treatment reviews” with their doctors to determine what drugs they really need to take and to figure out strategies for paying less. I love the idea of a closer doctor-patient relationship in which these types of issues are discussed, but I’m not sure how realistic it is for many of us today. Here’s why:
- Many of us, bumped from one insurance plan to another and changing doctors frequently as a result, do not know a physician that we really trust and will confide in.
- Doctors today are more pressed for time than ever, dividing their workdays carefully into 30 or more 15-minute appointments. If you want a comprehensive treatment review, you’d better be able to talk fast.
- Most doctors, in my experience, have no clue what different drugs or treatments cost — and don’t want to know. When it comes to issues of cost, they’re just as likely to send you out the door and ask you to talk with the office manager as to take the time to understand your situation, empathize with it, and help.
- Just as consumers are sucked in by DTC advertising for the latest high-priced drugs, so doctors are sucked in by Big Pharma’s heavy-handed marketing to physicians. The problem is not just that we “ask our doctor” — it’s that many doctors respond to every conceivable health problem by whipping out the prescription pad.
So, while we appreciate where Dr. Jardini is coming from, we think in reality the burden is going to be on you, the consumer, to determine how and where you can save money.
Dr. Jardini’s tips, I would add, are only part of the story when it comes to saving money on prescription drugs. In fact, at eDrugSearch.com, we’re currently working on an e-book offering our own money-saving tips — 99 of them, in fact.
Stay tuned.
The Orange County Register is asking its readers what strategies they use to keep drug expenditures down:
“The soaring costs of prescription drugs have led some health plans to require mail-order prescriptions or limit what medications are covered. The Register wants to hear how readers have coped with changes to their prescription drug benefits and escalating costs. Have you found creative ways to save costs? Have you skipped a medication against doctor’s orders? Do you ration your pills so your supply lasts longer?”
We encourage you to tell your story to Register health reporter Courtney Perkes at .
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Medi-Share: Christian Health Insurance Alternative
