Prescription drugs are expensive. There are some ways that you can save with prescription drugs. If you don’t have insurance this can be the biggest part of your medical budget. Even with prescription insurance this can be costly.
So how can you save?
At the Pharmacies
Check different pharmacies: Different pharmacies have different prices. Even with insurance you can get it for less money if you go to different pharmacies.
See if your insurance has mail order options. This you can order up to 3 months of medications and have it delivered to your door. Usually they have a low copay on these, and you can order for several months with that co-pay.
Check for coupons in newspapers. Sometimes they have an offer where you can save big money if you fill a new prescription, or transfer a prescription. Depending on the savings it may be worth the time to transfer a prescription or use that pharmacy to transfer.
Getting Cheaper Prescriptions from your Doctor
Check at places like Wal-Mart- They have a list of items and prescriptions that you can get for $4 a prescription. They also now have a list of $10 prescriptions that are 3 month prescriptions. Check out to see if your prescription is on the list. You may want to even print off the list to take to your doctor with you to see if they can substitute a medication off the list. You can even get a list of OTC medicine for less than $4 at Wal-Mart here. Not only is Wal-Mart doing this, other stores are following this trend.
Ask your doctor for samples. They usually have samples, but you will need to ask for them. If you tell your doctor that you can’t afford prescriptions and they may give you free samples sometimes enough that will take you through the whole course of medications they prescribed.
Check for generic prescriptions from your doctor. Maybe your medication can be bought generic. If you can get it generic then you will usually have a smaller co pay and it will be less.
As a final resource, if you have to take a prescription drug and simply cannot afford it, call the manufacturer, most of them have programs that will send medication to low income families. They will send the medicine to your doctor and you will have to pick it up, but this is one way that you can get the medication for free. This would help you if you have no insurance or any other resources that will help pay for your medication.
The one thing that you will want to pay attention to with all your medication is the shelf life of prescription drugs. You don’t want to save money by taking old out of date medication that has been there and the shelf life prescription has been expired. Always pay attention to the shelf life of the prescription. If you take something that is expired, it may not work the same, or could be very dangerous.
These are just some of the ways that you can save on prescription drugs when your doctor orders them for you.
