Everyone likes the idea of saving money, and with the costs of prescription medications as high as they are this is understandable. For example, the average US citizen spends $1,112 on prescription medicine every year. That is an amazing 44% higher than the next highest spending nation – Canada.
With the cost of medicine continually on the rise, we take a look at some of the best ways to save money on prescription medications. Follow our investigations to find out 2019 reviews trends.
Contents
Discount Cards
With an Rx discount card, you are able to purchase drugs at a lower price in your local pharmacy. There are a number of different discount cards available and savings of 80% can sometimes be achieved.
It is easy and quick to sign up for a card and you don’t even need a physical card to show the pharmacist, many of the providers allow you to use an app. To find the lowest price you simply search on the medical card site, then show your card when buying the prescription medications at the pharmacy store you select.
There are some downsides with this, however. The discount prices are temporary and may change or disappear from one day to the next. You may find that the cheapest prices are found on pharmacies that are not near or convenient for you to travel to.
On the plus side, the cards are free and with a little research, you should be able to pick up a useful saving. Though you may not find savings of as much as 80% all the time, with average discounts of between 40 and 50 percent the cards are worth having.
Generic Medication
Big savings can be made by switching away from brand name drugs to the generic alternative. Generic medication is almost identical to the brand name equivalent and should provide the same benefit as the more expensive choice.
The generic medication includes the same active ingredients as the original patented brand. The generic pill should work the same way and produce identical clinical benefits when taken by the patient. You should be able to switch to the generic without it making a difference to your treatment.
Generic pills will look slightly different from the brand pills you may be used to. The coloring and taste of the pill will likely be different too, as other bonding ingredients may have been used to form the medication by the generic manufacturer.
The FDA reviews generic medication to make sure it performs with the same characteristics as the original brand formula. The review makes certain that the pills are just as safe, have the same strength, is as effective and meets the same quality standards.
Generic alternatives won’t always be available and only appear on the market when the brand manufacturer’s patent has expired. New drugs are extremely expensive to bring to market and the period a manufacturer gets to exclusively sell their new drug formula is crucial to making it worthwhile to research new medicines.
High-Quality Generics
While generics should provide the same benefits as the original brand pills, this is only true when you get high-quality generics. Particularly when shopping for drugs online, there is a very real risk that you will end up purchasing low-quality generic medicines.
The FDA estimates that 97% of online pharmacies are not legitimate and offer unsafe drugs. With this in mind, the risks of not getting high-quality generics when shopping online are very real.
Online Pharmacies
Shopping online has created the opportunity to save money when purchasing medicine. It allows you to quickly compare prices across different retailers and find the best source for your prescription. Additional savings can be found with discount coupons which are often available for pharmacies.
While this creates a great chance to make big savings on medical expenses, there is a risk. It is relatively easy to create an online pharmacy and this has led to a large number of scam stores appearing.
To avoid this, it is always a good idea to do a little research before you commit to making an online purchase from a business unfamiliar to you. You may find customer reviews which praise the store, but beware if this feedback is part of the pharmacy site itself, because it could very well be fake.
It can be difficult to spot the rip off sites from the genuine reliable pharmacy stores so a few minutes researching can save you a lot of worry and potential problems.
Canadian Pharmacies
The idea of buying medication from a reliable source, in a different jurisdiction, is an attractive proposition. This is particularly evident in the US where the highest medicine prices are found and just over the border are considerably cheaper drugs are available. This has led to the popularity of Canadian pharmacies, where you know the safety and standards are going to be high. Unfortunately, the con artists know this too and have used this situation to scam customers with fake Canadian pharmacies.
The prevalence of fake Canadian pharmacies is astounding. With far more fake drugstores than genuine, that appear to be in Canada, you need to be on your guard when you find yourself looking to purchase at such a pharmacy.
Scam Canadian drugstores will use graphics and logos with the maple leaf flag, often using domain addresses with Canada in the name. Sometimes these stores will go as far as to use a fake Canadian address to pretend they are really located in that country.
Additional to this, it is common to find the fraudulent use of Canadian regulatory seals on these sites. These seals are meant to allow you to click on them so that you can check the regulatory approval is genuine. If you can’t click on them they are probably fake, or if when you click you aren’t taken to the regulatory site that is a problem too.
The reality of Canadian pharmacies is that they are often operated by people in countries which are known for online fraud. When we are able to uncover the real ownership details, we frequently find Russia, or another high-risk country is involved in the scam.
Risks of Using Scam Pharmacies
Though scam pharmacies offer considerably low pricing, this is a false economy and one which you could live to regret. Fake pharmacies may promise the highest quality generic drugs, but since they are lying about where they are based, the question should be asked – what else are they lying about?
The problem of counterfeit and fake medication is an ever-growing threat to human health, and using a scam pharmacy is virtually guaranteeing that this is what you will receive. If you order from such a store, you can expect long shipping times as the drugs will normally be dispatched from India, Pakistan, China or Turkey. Countries which top the lists of fake medication hot-spots.
If you take fake medication and nothing adverse happens to you, count yourself lucky. People die from taking fake and counterfeit drugs all the time. If the cheap counterfeit pill you are taking lacks the active ingredients you need to help cure your problem, this could lead to a worsening of your condition.
Besides the danger of fake medication, you are giving your personal and financial information to persons unknown. The chance of you becoming the victim of fraud is going to be high if you put yourself in this situation.
With big savings offered online, it can be very tempting to jump on a good deal you find, but it is important to use some caution when shopping for medicine online so that you avoid the scams and still get a great deal.
Ask Your Doctor
If you are being prescribed a new medicine by your doctor it doesn’t hurt to ask if they have any free samples or prescription coupons. Pharmaceutical representatives often give samples and coupons to doctors to promote their drugs and there is no reason why you shouldn’t benefit from this.
Contact Drug Companies
Many of the big drug companies operate patient assistant schemes which could provide discounts or free drugs. These programs are normally operated based on need and you can sometimes still benefit if you have insurance or Medicaid.
Copay coupons are sometimes offered by the drug’s manufacturers as well and are becoming increasingly popular. If you are interested in finding out if such discounts are offered on your medication and if you are eligible, just check the drug company website for details.
Patient Assistance Programs
There are other assistance programs available if you are on a low-income or underinsured, beyond those offered by the drugs companies. The Partnership for Prescription Assistance offers a free service to help you find out if you are eligible and to apply to nearly 500 public and private programs. These programs help many millions of Americans get cheap and free medical supplies every year.
Conclusion
As we have shown, there are many ways to avoid paying the highest prices for your medication. Which of these options you follow will, of course, depend on your particular circumstances. Some are more likely to provide discounts than others, but if you are determined to reduce your prescription costs you may as well try as many of these options as you can.
[fblike]
POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVES
There are also quite many online pharmacies on the net that have proved themselves to be excellent ones. We keep an eye on them as well. They get into our reviews from time to time, and you can see them on the pages of our site.We have placed the best online pharmacies into a separate list on the Pharmacy Ratings page. Ratings of online pharmacies that have successfully passed verification and check by our team: Link>>>
