Apr 2010
28
First Things First
When your doctor prescribes a new medication, don't blindly take it to the pharmacy and fill it. Ask your doctor if it is really necessary. Are there over-the-counter medications that will accomplish the same thing? Are there foods you can eat that will benefit you just as well. For example, rather than taking prescription Motrin, you could try an anti-inflammatory food regiment. Instead of antacid pills, a low fat diet might help. Find out what other treatment options are available before you fill that prescription. Double check what your doctor tells you with the pharmacist too. It's always good to have more than one opinion on the matter.
Double Up
If the medication is absolutely necessary, ask if your doctor can prescribe double the dosage so that you can cut the pills in half, halving your costs. Never share a prescription with someone else. It's just too risky.
Shop Around
Be sure your doctor is prescribing generic medicine for you whenever possible. Just by shopping around for a generic version of a medicine, you can save 2/3 over the cost of the premium brand copayment. Not only should you shop for generic, you should also shop price. It may surprise you that not every pharmacy charges the same cost for medication. Prices can vary greatly from one place to the next. Call around and make sure you are getting the best price for any medications that you are paying for out of pocket.
Mail Order
Most health insurance plans will let you off the hook for one out of three copayments if you order a 90-day supply of your medication via mail order pharmacies. Be very careful when using such services, though. If your doctor fails to write the prescription correctly, you could end up pay $100 copayment instead of the usual 30. A 30-day supply with three refills is not the same as a 90-day supply. Logically, it should be, but you can be charged a hefty copayment if you don't pay attention to this nuance.
Watch your bill carefully and get any mistakes reversed immediately. Many pharmacies will reverse the charge when you ask about it, but they will not call you before filling an incorrectly written prescription. They'll just send you the money and a whopping bill. Also, if your doctor made the mistake once, he's likely to make the same mistake again. Be careful when re-ordering because the pharmacy may not reverse the charges a second time.
Buying Online
It's against the law to buy American-made prescriptions from another country. Don't think for a second that we're recommending you break the law. The law is there to keep you safe. But the truth is that many Americans knowingly break the law because they need medication that they cannot afford. If you are thinking about buying drugs from another country online, do your research. Make sure the site requires a prescription. Also check to be sure the site is registered with the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy's Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites (VIPPS) by going to http://www.nabp.net/ and looking it up. While these precautions cannot guarantee your safety, they do help.
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