Have you noticed how expensive prescriptions are getting these days? I’m not sure how anyone can really afford them. I keep saying it, but it is true. Fortunately, there are a couple of tricks that you can use to save money on prescriptions. Here they are.
Wal-mart $4
Wal-mart has a promotion in which they charge only $4 for many common prescriptions. Wal-mart lists more than 360 prescriptions that qualify for the discount. To take advantage of this, you can print out the list of medicine names and take it with you the next time you visit the doctor. Very often, your doctor can find a similar medication that will work well but be covered by the promotion. To learn more about this promotion, visit Wal-mart.com and click on pharmacy. The website makes it very easy by grouping the medications by use, such as allergies or pain.
Pay yourself
There are so many times when paying for your prescription out of pocket actually saves money over using your insurance. Let’s say you have a $10 co-pay per 30-day supply of medication. The medication may only cost you $20 out of pocket for a 90 day supply. Asking your doctor to prescribe 90 days any paying for it yourself (most of the time insurance co-pays only cover 30-day supplies) would save you one third of the cost over three months. To find out if you can save, ask the pharmacy for their cash price. This all depends on how your medication is classified, and how much your co-pay is for that particular classification.
Sometimes the co-pay is actually more expensive than the actual prescription. This happened to me with pre-natal vitamins. I saved $1 per prescription by paying for it myself.
Get an “over the counter” prescription
The cost of over the counter medication can be covered by insurance if your doctor writes a prescription and the strength is different that what is normally available. By asking your doctor if you can get double the dosage and then split the pills, you may be able to save.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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And for more ideas on saving on medications, click here: Saving Money on Medication