Painful Prescriptions: Cutting the Cost of Medicine
When your doctor hands you a prescription for medication that will help you with a health condition you are suffering from, you can feel nothing but grateful to him or her. That feeling can change once you are in the pharmacy and find out how much the drug that you need is going to cost you. Some medicine is not cheap, but is an essential part of many people’s lives, so prescriptions can be painful on a person’s finances. Luckily there are a variety of ways to save money on medicine, and some of you may even be able to get the drugs you need for free.
Buy Generic
Do not be drawn in by the latest adverts on television and go into your pharmacy asking for a brand-name drug, because you will almost certainly pay more than a generic version of the same drug. In a survey conducted by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores it was revealed that the average generic drugs was over three times cheaper than the equivalent brand-name drug. Some people have doubts when it comes to buying a cheaper version of a drug, believing that because it is cheaper it is less effective, but this could not be further from the truth. Generic drug companies can sell at a lower price because the brand-name drug companies have already completed all the expensive safety and effectiveness testing so that the drug can hit the market, which they need to make back by selling at a higher price. Generic drug companies are controlled just as strictly by the FDA as brand-name drug companies, and offer the exact same medicine at a fraction of the price.
Split Higher-Dosage Pills
Another way to cut costs on your medication is to buy drugs that contain a higher dosage. For example, buy 500mg paracetamol tablets instead of 250mg tablets, and then split them in two when you want to take them. A large number of drugs are a very similar price regardless of their strength, so twenty 500mg tablets cost the same as twenty 500mg tablets. By splitting in half higher-dosage pills you can literally double the amount of medication you have for the same price. A word of warning though, this money saving method cannot be used with all drugs. There are a variety of drugs that cannot be safely split, especially coated pills, time-released medicines, and capsules. To be sure make sure you consult a pharmacist or doctor before you start splitting medication.
Buying Medicine Online
Substantial savings can be made by looking online for the medicine you need, and there are an abundance of online pharmacies out there competing for your purchase. This helps to drive prices down, and also the savings made by not having a physical pharmacy to dispense medicine from saves the company even more money, so savings can be passed on to you. The most important thing you must do is find a reputable pharmacy to buy from, and not be too tempted by websites that offer prices that are too good to be true. There are many rogue pharmacies operating online, selling counterfeit and expired drugs to unsuspecting consumers. Whether you need medication to help with erectile dysfunction or special drugs to ease the pain of arthritis, you are throwing money down the drain when buying from these rogue pharmacies, and could also be putting your health at risk. Last year somewhere in the region of 13,500 websites were shut down because they were trading illegal medicine, but you can be sure there are still thousands more out there.
Take Advantage of Help if You Are Entitled to It
There are plenty of organizations out there who provide a variety of ways for you to get discounted, or even free, prescription medicines, as long as you are eligible. Your first port of call should be the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA), which is a not-for profit organization that offers free help to people who cannot afford the medication they need. PPA helps people connect with the hundreds of private and public health programs which offer free or heavily discounted prescription drugs to people who are not covered for essential prescription drugs. Over the past seven years they have helped 7 million people in need, so sign up and see if you are eligible. Another place you could find help is at the ‘Together Rx Access’ program, which operates with the purpose to provide savings on a wide-range of prescription drugs for people who do not have insurance covering them for prescription drugs. You have to earn $45,000 or below as an individual, or $90,00 and below as a family of four, and you could save anywhere from 25% to 40% on prescription drugs.
Staying healthy is one of the most important aspects of a person’s life, but it does not have to be expensive. Making sure you have the medication you need without leaving a huge dent in your bank balance is possible, and hopefully these tips will give you the head start you need to bring your medication costs down.
Category: Health
