7 Ways to Save Money on Medications

Medication costs have skyrocketed over the past few years while the need for medication among patients has seemed to be rising.

There are a few things you can do, even without insurance, to help cap your prescription medication costs at the cheapest prices available.

Generic Medications

Some states automatically have pharmacies default to the generic version of any drug prescribed, meaning your doctor has to specify on your script if there is a certain drug they actually want.

When done automatically, this can drastically decrease the price you are paying for medications without you even knowing it.

If you’re in a state that does not automatically do this, I highly suggest requesting and using generic medications to your advantage.

Contrary to belief, these drugs have the same active ingredients as the regular drug and they do the same thing. The cheaper price does not make them any less effective than the name brand. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration sets standards for generic drugs to ensure they they have the same active ingredients, dose and strength are identical, and the quality and safety are the same.

Inactive ingredients however may be different so there is the slight chance you will have a different reaction with one compared to the another, but these reactions are generally small, and there’s no guarantee that the original drug is the one with the best inactive ingredients for you.

According to the Association for Accessible Medicines, generic medications are generally 80-85% less expensive than their brand name counterparts.

This drastic price decrease makes them much more accessible to individuals and much more likely for them to be approved by insurance companies.

Mail Order Pharmacies

Mail order pharmacies are pharmacies that operate through your health plan, that take your script, run it through your insurance, and then deliver your prescription to you by mail instead of you needing to pick it up in store.

Mail order pharmacies should not be confused with online pharmacies who do not run through your health plan.

Online pharmacies are different in that they don’t run through your health plan and they may/may not take your insurance. They are the same as an in-store pharmacy, only online.

Mail order pharmacies can be nice for a variety of reasons but mainly because they usually will save you time and money.

Mail order pharmacies can provide bigger discounts to members due to working directly through your health plan. They can order medications in larger quantities from manufacturers, allowing them to discount your medications cheaper than most in store pharmacies.

Mail order pharmacies also usually provide 90-day supplies of medications which offers an even greater savings normally. (However, be aware, if you’re obtaining a controlled medication, you likely will not be able to get this one as a 90-day supply.)

If your health plan has mail order pharmacy benefits, use the one that is listed in your Summary of Benefits and Coverage documents. This can usually be found by accessing your health plans website and information or calling the Member Services number on the back of your insurance card.

Big Store Memberships

Some chains and giant stores are now offering memberships that allow you to receive generic medications at deeply discounted prices without using insurance.

Some of these locations are Target, Wal-Mart, and Costco. These three allow you to get the discounts without using insurance and without signing up for a membership.

Other locations, like CVS and Walgreens, require you to sign up for a membership and pay a membership fee. Usually this fee ranges from $10-20. This may sound not worth it, but these memberships can make some, or all of, your medications only a few dollars, or even free.

Independent Pharmacies

On the flip side of big store memberships, you have small independent pharmacies.

A lot of times, these small pharmacies, have more leeway over the prices they are offering each medication for.

Checking with the pharmacist could easily get you a discounted medication. They are more often likely to price match the prices from other big store pharmacies and are more likely to offer a slightly discounted price to keep you in their pharmacy.

This does involve shopping around from pharmacy to pharmacy, but depending on the prescriptions you are taking and how many, this can be a big financial save over what you’re used to with big store pharmacies.

GoodRx

GoodRx is a free mobile app and website that shows you the different prices at pharmacies in your area for specific medications.

GoodRx also offers their own discounts for prescription drugs that you can use without even signing up for a membership. GoodRx is accepted at most pharmacies across the country. GoodRx can be used regardless if you have insurance or not. You may be able to save more using GoodRx than you would with your normal prescription plan.

GoodRx also has a gold membership program (this does require signing up for use) and costs $10/month. You can get one month free before being charged for the service. The gold membership offers even better discounts and prices than the normal free version of the app. It’s worth trying out the one month of gold for free to see if your prescription savings would total more than the $10 membership.

To use the GoodRx service, check out the savings and discounts available for your prescriptions by going here: GoodRx Website

Some other prescription savings cards that are worth checking out, but aren’t as popular, are: Blink Health, SingleCare, and WellRx.

Splitting Pills

Another way to reduce the costs of your medication every month is by pill splitting. Note - This should ONLY be done under the supervision of a healthcare professional. Pill splitting is when you are prescribed a higher dose pill that you then split in half before consuming. Getting a higher dose pill usually makes the cost cheaper than getting a prescription with a lower dose medication with more pills.

First, you need to understand that pill splitting can only be done with certain drugs. These drugs have been confirmed to have the same drug content and work the same when in the body when consumed in halves.

Second, the FDA is who tests and approves whether or not a pill can be safely split. If FDA-approved, you can find this information in the “HOW SUPPLIED” section of your patient packet insert.

Third, something to note to be done safely: pills should not be split up all at once and saved for use; instead, split a pill and use the entire pill before going ahead and splitting another. Some pills when split in advance can be affected by the external environment.

Again, this is something that should only be considered under the direction of a healthcare professional. Asking your physician that prescribes your medication is the best way to find out if this is an option for any of your medications.

Drug Company Discount Programs and Samples

One last way to save on your prescription medication is by utilizing pharmaceutical company drug discount programs.

First, start off by asking your physician if they know of any discounts or samples that you can get through the manufacturer of each medication that you are taking. Drug companies often times give physicians samples that they can give their patients if they are unable to get the medication through other channels.

The second option through pharmaceutical companies is by taking part in their prescription discount programs.

You can find out if the medication you’re taking has a prescription discount program by going to the brand’s website and looking for areas that say “Savings” or “Patient Assistance Program”.

Sometimes the website will have a savings discount that anyone can use by downloading the card or coupon they make available.

Even if they offer a discount card, there should still also be a patient assistance program that you can get information on. Usually you will have to download a form, fill out the form, and submit the form with information before being approved for these programs. Depending on the program, there can be restrictions based on income, this varies from company to company.

Another way to search for assistance programs, coupons, and rebates is by using NeedyMeds.org.

This website lets you search by medication, diagnosis/condition, or company to search for additional savings programs. It lays out the qualifications needed and has download PDF’s if there are any forms to fill out and submit.

A GallUp poll released in 2021 found that 18 million Americans can’t afford to buy at least 1 prescribed medication in their household.

Hopefully, armed with this information, you’ll be able to find an affordable solution to your own personal prescription needs.

If you have any other ways to save on medication, please leave a comment below with information!