Is there a magic way to reduce your medication costs?

Magic probably not, but effective, oh yes, I know exactly what you can do. Inflation entered our lives, and it changed our shopping habits. Everything is more expensive, from food and typical household bills to rising medication costs.

This is a massive problem for people, especially for those who suffer from different health conditions and need proper treatment so they can be healthy.

Sadly, even if these patients have prescription insurance assistance, they still have to bear a lot of the cost-sharing burden, and unfortunately, that means many prescriptions that are not filled and different illnesses and conditions that remain untreated.

I think that no one should be in a place where they can’t buy their much-needed medicine just because the medication costs are high, which is exactly why I’ve talked to a couple of pharmacists about ways to reduce those costs. I’m pretty sure that you want to keep those medication costs low, so keep reading!

1. Join a patient assistance program

There are pharmaceutical companies that want to help patients with treating their illnesses and have enough money to support their medication costs, which is why they developed patient assistance programs.

These programs are specially created for those who can’t afford to pay the entire amount for their drugs, so they’re offered discounts. Besides that, they also have the possibility of offering those drugs completely free if you show them proof that there’s no way you could purchase what you need.

You can find these patient assistance programs listed on pharmaceutical companies’ websites, so check them out and see if there’s something suitable for you.

Something else they do to make their customers happy is offering low-cost or even no-cost coupons for particular medications, so that’s a great way to help you get better when you don’t have enough financial resources to do so.

Don’t be shy to contact PatientHelpNetwork.org, RxAssist.org, and NeedyMeds.org for any extra info. They can help you by giving you plenty of details on how to join a program, and they can also give you a copay discount card.

2. Generic medicine

Do you want to reduce your medication costs right NOW? Then opt for a generic drug. There are many pharmacies that offer affordable generic medications, so don’t neglect them because some dollar bills won’t have to leave your pocket if you follow this tip.

If there are any retail pharmacies in your city, pay them a visit and ask them if they have a list of generic drugs. You can typically find them on their website if you don’t feel like going there physically.

According to pharmacists, they carry drugs that cost as little as $4.00 for a 1-month supply or no more than $10 for a 3-month supply. However, in order to obtain that 3-month supply at a budget-friendly price, you might be asked to have a prescription from your doctor that says that you need to take that medicine for 90 days. That’s surely a great way to lower your medication costs!

Another not-so-popular method of how lower your medication costs is to write down a list of the affordable or free drugs from retail pharmacies when you go to your doctor for a check-up and ask them if there’s anything you could take for your condition.

There are pharmacies that have discounts on their products online, but you might need to purchase more, such as a 3 or 6-month supply of maintenance medications for conditions like diabetes treatment or antidepressants, so you can save both money and time.

But if you’re not sure you’ll stay on those drugs for so long, you might want to pass on this because it’s not going to help you lower your medication costs, given the fact that you can’t typically return drugs.

3. Shop around

Just like with clothes, shoes, or home decor items, you don’t have to purchase the first thing that you see. It’s always an amazing idea to compare the prices for prescription drugs if you plan on paying the entire cash price instead of a copay because sometimes the costs can significantly vary based on the number of prescriptions and locations.

The pharmacists I talked to told me that all patients should look for the lowest prices available, but you can also do another thing that might help you. You can talk to the pharmacist about giving you a discount to keep you happy and satisfied.

4. Ask for a sample

An easy way to reduce your medication costs is to use free samples of your prescription medications. Your doctor is there to help you, so why not ask them if they can give you some? As you probably know, they typically have full-size samples they can give their patients, especially when it comes to maintenance drugs like blood pressure medications or asthma inhalers.

However, keep in mind that these might be brand-name items that don’t exactly have a generic available at the moment, so it’s best to ask your dear doctor to find a generic substitute when you need it.

There might be generic products and brand-name ones that have the same quality and efficacy, so you could lower your overall medication costs if you went for the generic ones. But don’t make any big decisions regarding drugs unless you talk to a pro first. They know better, right?

5. Discount coupon

Discount coupons are one of the best things that could ever exist because they bring so much joy and money into people’s lives! Well, it depends on the percentage of the discount available, but it’s still good to know that you don’t have to break and arm and a leg so you can keep your health condition in check.

If you’re paying cash (this is typically the way these vouchers work), you can start your online search journey for discount cards and coupon codes, which might help you save money for any particular medication that you need.

You can save the discount card or code you found on your phone, or you can take it physically with you. Show it to your pharmacist, and they can help you with entering the code to get that much-needed discount.

As good as it is to find a discount coupon, you should know that not all pharmacies are okay with them, so it might be better to give them a call and ask before you actually start going there.

Another way to lower your medication costs, especially if you need some drugs that are very expensive, is to not forget that you can always ask your doctor or your pharmacist for help finding a more affordable alternative.

If the tip previously mentioned doesn’t work, you can ask the pharmacist for a discount when you plan on purchasing something. There are quite a lot of pharmacies that have in-house prescription discounts they can give their customers, they might need something in return: a small fee to get a discount.

It sounds completely wrong: pay a fee to get a discount, but you can make things clear with your pharmacist. If you think about joining a plan like this, you should know that it might help you save $10 or even more on every prescription, and that’s amazing.

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Would you plan on trying any of these tips on how to keep your medication costs low? Until next time, here’s another article you’ll like: Is Your Monthly Budget $2,000? Not An Issue With These 6 Tips!