How to Save Money on Your Family’s Prescriptions

Prescriptions provide the medications needed to maintain a quality of life, fight disease, and survive life-threatening health conditions. Without access to prescription drugs, you and your family suffer the risk of deteriorating health. Whether needed to treat pain and inflammation from an injury, symptoms of ADHD or depression, or to fight against arthritis, when prescriptions are needed, they often become as vital to health as a nutritious diet and clean drinking water.

The costs of prescriptions can quickly break a family's budget. Even generic prescriptions can cost $50, $100, and several hundred dollars per month. Certain medications are astronomically expensive. For those covered under insurance plans with low co-pays, the retail price is a moot point. They are never required to pay it at the pharmacy counter.

What about families that have no prescription drug insurance plan? Or those with extremely high deductibles and no prescription co-pays, who must still pay the full retail price out of pocket? Prescription costs can quickly deplete savings, take money away from other necessities, and even force a person to do without the medications they need to survive.

How can people without access to insurance company pharmacy discounts afford medications? 

When you don't have insurance, it's tempting to just not fill a prescription. This can jeopardize your health. Rather than skipping the medication, try these strategies.

Discuss the cost with your doctor 

One in five prescriptions goes unfilled because of cost. Doctors do their best to prevent this. If cost is an issue, your doctor may be able to prescribe a less costly medicine.

As a temporary measure, they may even be able to provide some samples at no cost.

Shop around 

In today's marketplace, retailers are fighting hard for business. As a result, prices vary substantially between pharmacies. You can check prices online and call around.

Often, costs for different medicines vary from pharmacy to pharmacy. Just because a pharmacy has the best price for one medicine does not mean it will for different medicine. Make sure to check the prices with each new prescription.

Ask for generics

Generic drugs are 80 to 85 percent lower in cost. The manufacturing process and ingredients are the same, so you still get the same healing effects. Some newer medicines have no generic equivalent.

In those cases, try to find samples or apply for income-based programs that help people afford costly medications.

Sign up for a prescription discount card 

These cards provide savings of up to 80 percent off the retail price. Discounts apply to generics and name-brand drugs. The cards can be used at the pharmacy counter. For people without insurance, prescription discount cards provide the savings necessary for obtaining important medications.

For example, 30 1-mg tablets for Estradiol cost $178 per month at retail. This medicine treats the symptoms of menopause. For many women, treating these symptoms is vital to the quality of life and maintenance of health. Despite the benefits, most people find an added $178 per month unaffordable. With the pharmacy discount rate of up to 80 percent, affording this medication becomes feasible.

In addition, many pharmacy discount plans provide coupons for Estradiol and many other medications. Coupons can be used at many pharmacies around the country.

Receiving the right medical care is one of the most important necessities for families today. Very few people can afford prescription costs out of pocket without a discount plan, and those who can should never burn money by paying the full retail price. Singlecare provides families with the discounts they need to afford important medical treatments.