Massachusetts Personal Injury Library
Shopping tips for cheaper prescription drugs andoverma.cfm
Massachusetts attorney Thomas M. Kiley, http://www.kileylaw.com, concentrates on health care issues and product liability cases. Recent reports indicate that the recession is causing people to skimp on prescription drugs which might affect their health in the long term.
According to an article in the http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/health/06patient.html, people are looking for ways to spend less on prescription drugs to make their dollars go further. The average brand-name prescription cost $120 in 2007, according to the most recent data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. That was an increase of $111 from the previous year. The average generic in 2007 was a mere $34, according to Kaiser. Patients can buy many generic drugs for as little as $4 for a 30-day supply at WalMart or Target, and many other retailers are offering discounts.
However, generic drugs aren’t the answer in every case and switching needs to be approved by the doctor. One strategy is to take advantage of the health insurance prescription drug plan. Typically they offer coverage at three levels, or tiers. Patients may have a co-payment of just $10 or so for a generic drug, $25 for a preferred drug (meaning the insurer has negotiated a preferred rate with the drug company), and as much as $75 for a nonpreferred drug.
Another strategy is to go to the insurer’s website to look at the list of drugs they cover and how to get reimbursed. People can also call the 800 number on the back of the insurance card. For drugs in the top tier, patients can talk with the doctor about less expensive options. For chronic conditions, the drug insurer's mail order system could save hundreds of dollars a year.
The article suggests talking with the doctor about less costly options. Patients can bring a copy of the drugs covered by insurance and a list of the current medications and get input from the doctor about possible cheaper drug choices. Patients can ask:
Are all these medications necessary? Am I on the correct dose? Is there a generic alternative that I can try? According to the article, about 75 percent of all premium drugs have a generic alternative.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimate that consumers spend millions of dollars each year on ineffective antibiotic prescriptions for viral conditions that don’t respond to expensive antibiotics. If patients do need antibiotics, they should ask the doctor for a generic option that will be cheaper. Another option is to ask for a 90-day prescription rather than a 30-day, which may cost less per dose.
It is also possible that the medications are available in a larger dose or the pills can be split. For example, instead of taking a 50-milligram pill, by purchasing an inexpensive pill-splitting device available at drugstores and taking half a 100-milligram pill patients will get twice as many doses.
For patients on a Medicare Part D drug plan, talking to the doctor early in the year can avoid running up a large bill that comes up to the coverage gap in which patients have to pay full price for medications. According to the article, this year Part D covers medications until out-of-pocket expenses and the plan’s outlays reach $2,700. After that, patients have to pay the full cost of prescription drugs until the total reaches $4,350. After that, Medicare coverage resumes.
Patients can also compare costs at different drugstore outlets where prices can vary quite a bit. Especially if patients have no health insurance plan, shopping around can help save money. There is a website called Destination RX, where patients can search by the name of the drug and their zip code and the search will locate local stores with the cheapest prices. Other discount sites to check include http://www.Drugstore.com or http://www.FamilyMeds.com.
For patients needing additional assistance, contact the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, (888-477-2669), a nonprofit organization run by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. The partnership helps uninsured or low-income consumers get access to 475 public and private prescription assistance programs.
