Save money on medications and prescriptions
April 18, 2009 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under Health & Wellness
Saving money on medications and prescriptions is a tough one because often you have to get a specific type. If you’re sick, you’re sick, and you do need to get better. That said, there are some ways to save…
- Don’t get sick! This is an easy one. Don’t excessively drink, don’t smoke, exercise, get regular check-ups, practice safe sex, wash your hands, and eat right. Prevention of illness is the biggest way to save on medical care, including medications.
- Ask your health care provider if you can exchange a name-brand prescription for the generic version.If you buy over the counter drugs, get the store brand.
- Buy the largest size of medications you’ll use up before they expire. Many over-the-counter medications are way cheaper this way. For example, allergy medications cost less when you buy more, so if you know you’ll be taking them all spring, buy the bigger box. Sometimes a pharmacy will give you a deal on prescriptions too – just ask.
- Try alternative health care. Medications are good sometimes, but if you’re not getting better using conventional medications, why not invest a little cash in alternative therapies? Massage, acupuncture, aromatherapy, and more can not only treat, but help cure some illnesses when conventional medications have failed.
- Check websites of pharmacies for deals. Like at Target you can enroll in their rewards program and Walgreens offers a prescription savings club. You’ll need to read around to find a deal that fits your needs.
- Get coupons. It’s tricky to find coupons, but when you do you can score lots o’ cash off your medications. Visit a name-brand medication site; like say, Lipitor, and look for their money-saving page. Many medication sites offer deals, free trials, and coupons off.
Do you have any tricks for saving on medications and prescriptions?
[image via stock.xchng]
We’re military but live more than 50 miles from a base – we use TriCare’s mail order pharmacy “Express-scripts” for any medications we have to take on a regular basis – we get 3 months worth of prescriptions for one months co-pay and there is no shipping charge.
We just have to have our Doctor fax prescriptions from his office, or, we can have them transferred from our local pharmacy as well.
We save 2/3 per year on our medications — that adds up pretty fast.