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I don't have any issues with drug costs, but I thought this investigation was interesting. Lots of gouging going on out there, apparently. It wasn't that easy to find out what drugs cost at various places, because they won't tell you until you bring in your perscription and ask to have it filled. The columnist who wrote this is a consumer advocate, and a very knowledgeable one, who writes regularly for the L.A. Times.
I don't have any issues with drug costs, but I thought this investigation was interesting. Lots of gouging going on out there, apparently. It wasn't that easy to find out what drugs cost at various places, because they won't tell you until you bring in your perscription and ask to have it filled. The columnist who wrote this is a consumer advocate, and a very knowledgeable one, who writes regularly for the L.A. Times.
My experience with this - and I was spending $300+ per month for a while - was that Sam's Club was the least expensive, Walmart was 5% higher and Costco was 15% higher in Chicagoland. CVS, Walgreens, Dominicks (Safeway), and Jewel (Supervalu until recently) were much higher.
Having said that, when I changed medical plans three years ago to an HSA, I had a heart to heart with my doctors and voila, we got the $300+ a month down to $125 per month. I then switched to a mail order which has work great and is cheaper than Sam's Club by a bit. The meds are delivered on time every quarter and I have not been to an in-store pharmacy in a long while.
You MUST shop around if you are going to get the best prices. A lot of pharmacies will quote you a price over the phone.
I found WalMart would match Costco sometimes. And I did a price comparison
on eye drops. Walmart beat Costco and CVS. Mail order would do better, but
who knows when the temperature sensitive drops would arrive.
My co=pay is at set price and I can buy at any. Use a local pharmacy .
Sometimes it's less expensive to get your prescriptions filled outside of your insurance, if it's a common generic drug.
I started paying for one of my prescriptions under my insurance. One drug co-pay each month (that's how the plan worked). One of my work colleagues saw what I was taking, and informed me that I could get three months' worth of the same stuff at Costco for half of one co-pay.
At Walmart Home Delivery or Walmart stores, generics are $4.00 for 30 day supply or $10.00 for 90 day supply.
Definitely do not use insurance when purchasing at Walmart Home Delivery or Walmart stores unless:
1) your insurance has no deductible and your copay is less than the $4 or $10
2) you need a non-generic drug
Last edited by matisse12; 06-12-2013 at 11:20 AM..
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