Pharmacy Checker says CVS has it for $35.00
GoodRX says CVS has it for $40.00
So I phone CVS and they say it’s $250.00
Huh?
How do I get the lowest prices on meds?
Welcome to USA! Check all expectation of a functioning healthcare system at the door.
I took a GooodRx coupon to a Walgreen’s and presented it for a 30 count Lunesta 10 mg.
The clerk took it without a blink.
It was something around $35.
Retail list was $150 at the time.
If yo are near the Canadian border, US Customs (under Obama) would allow person-use quantities without noise.
usedtobe: I’m confused… The pharmacist gave you the lower price, because of the GoodRx coupon? Should I try this at CVS?
ETA: about as far from Canada as a Yank can get… I know people who cross into Tijuana for meds… I don’t think I want to do that.
GoodRx functions like insurance. When you called, you were likely quoted the cash (or non-insurance or with your insurance) cost. What you need to do is go to the pharmacy, pull up the GoodRx screen on your phone (or have it printed out before hand) and show it to the pharmacist. They’ll input that number just like they’d input your insurance information and you’ll pay $40.00. Sometimes the pharmacist/pharm tech isn’t totally familiar with GoodRx and will ask you if it’s a coupon or a discount or if it’s supplemental insurance or if you don’t have insurance, but a quick explanation (or someone else behind the counter will tell them what to do) and it’ll get cleared up.
I use GoodRx all the time, about half the time it’s cheaper than I’d pay with United HealthCare, even if I get the meds in 90 day supplies, directly from them (OptumRx). In fact, if I know what meds a doctor is likely to write me before I go in, I’ll pull up the prices on GoodRX and UHC so I can tell them if I need it sent to OptumRx or Walgreens.
Anyways, back to the OP, I’ve never heard of Pharmacy Checker, but take the GoodRX printout to the pharmacy and show it to them. Also, if you don’t mind jumping from one place to another, you can check Target’s $4/$10 list as well.
One “trick” I use is to buy the drug in its cheapest form. For instance, I take Losartan, 50 mg daily. The cost of thirty 100 mg tablets is far less than sixty 50 mg tablets. I buy the 100 mg tablets and take 1/2 daily.
If you can work out a way to buy full bottles you can save money as well. I can buy a bottle of 100 fifty mg atenolol for less than my copay on thirty tablets, so I pay cash instead of using insurance.
Just be careful that some pills cannot be halved. I take one that has a clear warning on the label that it may not be split.
There are Canadian drug stores that mail order to the US. Probably illegal, though, and I don’t know how to find a good one.
When my doctor mentioned sources for my medications, I asked if Canadian mail order was legal. I loved his reply, “Do I look like a fucking lawyer?”
Groucho answer “No, you look more like a doctor who has trouble getting any!.”
To the OP - Sounds like you were quoted the “rack rate” for the drugs were you called the pharmacy. Call back and say tell them that GoodRX says you can get it there for $X, are they honoring that price.
Crikey! That easy? I’ll give 'er a try! Thanks!
Yup, it really is. Like I said, if the pharm tech that takes your script hasn’t dealt with GoodRx before, they might be unfamiliar with it, just tell them to use it like an insurance card and when they input it (in place of your insurance), it should give them the price you see on your screen.
One thing to keep in mind, however, is that if you have insurance, this won’t be applied to your deductible. So sometimes it is actually worth paying more so that you can hit your deductible and then pay a small co-pay for the rest of the year, but that’s a whole 'nother subject. And with that, I’ve had one insurance plan that would allow you to submit these kinds of things to them and they would apply them. United HealthCare, however doesn’t (so far as I know).