How To Save Money When Buying Prescription Medicine

Pharmaceutical companies set the prices of their products until they no longer have the exclusive right to manufacture the medicine at which time the medicine can be made by other companies introducing competition into the process. These other comparable drugs made by competitors have acquired the name generic.

GENERIC DRUG as defined by the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration): "A generic drug is identical, or bioequivalent to a brand name drug in dosage form, safety, strength, route of administration, quality, performance characteristics and intended use. Although generic drugs are chemically identical to their branded counterparts, they are typically sold at substantial discounts from the branded price. According to the Congressional Budget Office, generic drugs save consumers an estimated $8 to $10 billion a year at retail pharmacies. Even more billions are saved when hospitals use generics."

In some cases your doctor will prescribe a brand name, non-generic drug, in which case you can discuss with your doctor if a change in the prescription can be made to allow a generic substitution. How do you know if a generic drug is available? See step 2.

You can determine if a generic form of your medicine is available by consulting the FDA "Electronic Orange Book" or the FDA "First-Time Generics Only" which is regularly updated. In my case it was much easier just to ask the pharmacist and he informed me that all but one of my prescriptions were generic and only one was not a generic. In this one case the generic form was just recently approved; after a short call to the doctor, I had the new prescription for the generic form. I think my savings were close to $70 a month and with additional savings being realized with the programs below.

If your doctor allows you to substitute the generic form of your medicine, the next step is to find where to buy and who has the best price. Let's categorize the sellers into 3 categories: the major players, the pharmacies, and the grocery stores.

Links are provided to the individual programs, but since this is a fast-changing industry, the links may change over time. I would suggest that if this happens, search Google with the particular company and the words 'generic prescription' to see their most current program. Also please note the individual programs are at the mercy of your state laws and therefore the program may change from state to state.

Major players:

• The major player list has to start with Walmart / Sams Club. in the fall of 2006 Wal-Mart announced a start-up program offering deeply-discounted $4.00 prices for a 30-day supply for a diverse list of generic prescription drugs. Starting in Florida, within two weeks the company announced programs in 15 states and by November, they added the final states totaling 3,810 stores in 49 states. The program has been updated and includes a 90 day supply at the price of $10! Note: this may involve your doctor allowing you a 90 day supply of medicine and not the traditional 30 day refill. Their 4 page list of generic drugs included in the program is online and updated as a pdf file.
• Target offers a similar $4.00 list of generic drugs and also provides a $10 - 90 day supply list.
• COSTCO provides a list of drugs both generic and non-generic along with their prices online and should be checked if a generic form of the drug is not currently being manufactured. They also have a COSTCO Member Prescription Program which has a number of benefits and may help if you have no prescription insurance coverage.
• K-Mart has a 90 day list of generic drugs which they currently sell for $15.

The pharmacies are also competing and have their own programs. Check with your local pharmacy and see if they can provide you a list of reduced priced generic drugs.

Walgreens has a list of 400 generic drugs with a price of $12.99 for a 3 month supply. Check out their prescriptions savings program, which offers some additional incentives. Walgreens will mail you your prescriptions for $1.95 (any number), which may be great if you are transportation-constrained or you figure the price of traveling (gas, cab, etc.) into your prescription costs.

Your friendly neighborhood grocery store is also in the business of selling drugs and, not to be outdone, has some competitive programs.

• Publix now offers a 14 day supply of 8 popular oral antibiotics to include: Amoxicillin, Ampicillin and Penicillin VK for FREE! This program does not require your membership in any insurance program
• King Shopper, City Market, Kroger, and other grocery stores are worth consideration especially if you already shop at the store. Check with your grocery store pharmacist to learn the programs that they offer.

Over five BILLION dollars of medications were given out last year by America's pharmaceutical companies and the programs continue to grow and welcome more patients.

Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA) is a United States patient-assistance program clearinghouse that helps low-income patients apply for free or reduced-priced prescription drugs. You may have seen Montel Williams promoting this program -- the “Help is Here Express” national bus tour, which consists of two buses criss-crossing the country, making stops in all 50 states and more than 1,200 cities across America.