I have to be honest, I never really thought about price checking prescriptions. If my daughters get sick I either send it to pharmacy near my work or near my home out of convenience. In my naive mind I just assumed all prescriptions would more or less cost the same across the board. Yeah, I was wrong. I did a search on a couple of prescriptions I’ve filled in the last year on rxpricequotes.com and found there was always a price difference ranging from a mere $2 to a whopping $50 difference just on the prescriptions I’ve used this year! And we’re a fairly healthy family. Exact same dosage – exact same prescription – completely different prices. Here’s an example for Ibuprofen 800 near my job:
This tool will even show you the generic costs on name brands (Alternate drug category is the generic version):
Since Sam’s Club always came out cheaper on the four I searched I wondered, “What about non-members?” Surprisingly, I found out that you don’t need a membership to use Sam’s Club pharmacy. You can show your prescription to the checker at the entrance (or just tell them you’re going to the pharmacy) and you’re in. Note: Without a Sam’s Club membership, you can only use the pharmacy – no other purchases allowed.
In addition, if you are a Sam’s Plus™ Member and live in certain states you can receive five select prescriptions for free, for more details go here.
- Donepezil: 30-day supply for Alzheimer’s Disease (generic Aricept 2 strengths)
- Escitalopram: 30-day supply for Mental Health (generic Lexapro 3 strengths)
- Pioglitazone: 30-day supply for Diabetes (generic Actos 3 strengths)
- Vitamin D 50,000 IU: 4 caps for Bone Density
- Finasteride: 30-day supply for Men’s Health (generic Proscar 1 strength)
My father also reminded me to ask my doctor about pill splitting for any longer term prescriptions. What is this “pill splitting”? Sometimes you can buy a double dosage pill that can be sliced in half. For example, instead of 60 days of a 50mg pill you buy a 30 day supply of a 100mg pill and split it in half. Voila! You have 60 days worth of 50mg. This can potentially save you a lot of money. Of course, some pills aren’t suitable for splitting such as time-release or coated capsules. Oh the logic of it all! Why didn’t I think of this??
Also, I found this site that has coupons and rebates for different medications (both prescription and OTC’s such as Aleve and Allegra). I always go here if I or the kids need any OTC medications just for the coupons.
Hope this enlightens you as much as it did me!
