I spent a few days, earlier this month, trying to find the least expensive medicines I would have to buy, myself. From that experience, I have some information and suggestions for anyone looking to do the same.

I also sent a proposal about this to Senator Lugar (who forwarded it to Medicare/CMS).

Background

See, I'm in my "doughnut" (or "donut", however you wish to spell it) hole. I'm on Medicare. My supplemental policy has a $250 deductible, then I pay a copay until both the insurance company and I have paid $2000. Then I enter the donut hole. This means that I now pay 100% of my medicine costs (at the insurance company "discount" or, if the pharmacy is not contracted to them, a direct 100% and send a copy of the bill to them to be credited for it) until I have paid (what appears to be) $3050. Then my "Catastrophic Coverage" kicks in, and meds will be MUCH easier to for ME to pay for (The insurance company pays most of it.)

I have not found ONE PERSON who said that Medicare Part D was easy for ANYONE to figure out. This is one of the reasons they had so many "classes" on it before it started (and I hope they will before the 2007 renewals). See, I believe it was GOING to be easy to figure out, then bureaucrats and insurance companies got a hold of it, and made it as complicated as the tax code, if not more so. Hell, my father, a businessman for 50+ years and in the insurance business for 20+ years hasn't got it figured out, yet! If HE is having problems with it, how can "normal" people?

The seven (7) medicines I had cost around $1000 (without the insurance company), based on that 4-page review report!

Anyway, while I was discussing the costs of my medicines with my doctor, he made the statement that, apparently, doctors are lied to about the costs of the medicines they prescribe. (I hope they aren't lied to about the actual strength, etc. of the med!) He basically dropped me from one med, doubled up another, and made some suggestions for me to check out, price-wize. I stayed in contact with him through email, while I was doing this, and he made a few more suggestions (meds-wize, not pharmacy-wize). When I was done, he asked which pharmacy to call (a rarity! They normally DON'T call in prescriptions, as the pharmacy I chose told me, too!), I called them to give them my info, and in a couple of days, I had prescriptions that cost me 2/5 the price they would have through my insurance company's mail-order prescription service.

Findings

In the following table, I will NOT be including the names of the medicines, nor will I show the names of the pharmacies from which I got the prices. The point here is to show that almost every place you call or find online to get a prescription price (even your insurance company, or at the same pharmacy in a different (section of) town, will have a different price, and they can vary widely.

Unless noted, the prices are for a 90-day supply, which will either be 90 doses, or 180 doses.

Medicines are listed vertically (down) and pharmacies are listed horizontally (across).

As you can see, prices for the SAME MEDICINES vary A LOT, in some cases, from the same pharmacy. The major reason for this is a difference in manufacturers.

NOTE: This was made abundantly clear, when on one med, at one place, if it was prescribed directly, they sold one manufacturer's at $768.00, and if the doctor prescribed the brand and said it was ok to substitute the generic, it was another manufacturer's at $81.69. Ain't that a bitch! Talk about "prices may vary!"

So, for my meds, the white columns are from my insurance company review report. The green are the ones I actually bought.

Suggestions

If you are going to do this - checking for generics within a class - MAKE SURE YOU WORK WITH YOUR DOCTOR, and he/she tells you what strength/size the dose should be for each. For example, I found one med I normally took at 40mg, and one of the generics was only 20mg. Was I to double the number of doses to cover the difference in strength? Did the lower-dosed one work "better" than the higher-dosed one? I don't know. But I DO know that even within the same class, some meds work differently, so your doctor MUST be involved in this.

I corresponded with my doctor through email while I was doing this.

NOTE: Not all doctors will give out an email address, let alone a personal address. And many doctors will require an office visit to make/renew prescriptions - They will NOT "phone them in" for you. HOWEVER, it never hurts to ask, especially when you are doing something like this.

My doctor made suggestions, after I sent my original findings to him, and based on them, I searched for more. When all was done, I ordered five prescriptions from two local pharmacies, and maybe will from another in three (3) months, when we will be in Indy, where (most of) the lowest prices were. I also believe all pharmacies involved are all on my insurer's list. So, when it starts up again at the beginning of the year 1) I will have a new set of prescriptions and pharmacies; and 2) I will have even cheaper prescriptions, so my copays should be smaller, and it should take longer for me to hit my "donut hole".

1. Make a spreadsheet (or table), with your meds (and possibles, from your doctor) listed in the first column, and pharmacies across the top.

   WARNING: Your spreadsheet will probably NOT fit on one screen. If your program has it, use the COLUMN HIDE or FOLD capabilities to keep the information close enough that you don't accidentally put info for one med on another.
    

2. Check with your insurer's mail-order pharmacy. They may have a pricing guide online.

   (Mine does, but many of the prices were nowhere near the costs listed on a 4-page report I got telling me I was in my donut hole - and when I called Customer Service about it, they said they'd been having problems with it. So, I couldn't trust their prices, and didn't include them, above.)
    

3. Look up the pharmacies near where you live or work (or have doctor's appointments), list them, the locations and phone numbers in the top row. (I've included links to a number of "main" sites, in the list below. Be sure you are looking within your local area, and don't forget to include your own local pharmacies that are NOT on the list.)

   NOTE: Prices differ based on where the pharmacy is located, and, in some cases, other pharmacies with whom they do their own comparison shopping. Be sure if you work or regularly visit somewhere else, you list THOSE pharmacies, too. Some of the ones I used in my comparison-shopping are from Lebanon, Indianapolis and Lafayette. (Not in the order I listed, above). You should NOT have to register to get to the price-list, except, maybe at your own insurance company.) Also, even within the same company there are cases where the prices will differ within the same city. For example, one on the far North side and one on the far West side of Indianapolis may have different prices, especially if the pharmacies compare their prices against others in their areas. This is especially true for those in different towns/cities/metropolitan areas, too. Make sure the store you're calling has a pharmacy. It is probably listed on their website.

   The following links and instructions based on a check 08/09/2006.

   • Mom-and-Pop/Hometown pharmacies
   • Kroger (almost forgot this one!) - Enter your zip in the box on the right side.
   • Walmart (and Super Walmart) - Enter your zip in the box on the right side.
   • Target (and Super Target) - Enter your zip in the box at the bottom of the right-side/main column.
   • Sam's Club - Click "Club Locator" and either enter your zip, or click the "Click Here to find a Club", check the "Pharmacy" box, and enter your zip.
   • Costco - Click LOCATIONS (top right) and enter your zip code for locations, For prices, click PHARMACY, then PRICING.
   • Osco/Savon - Click STORE LOCATOR (map), enter City/State and/or Zip - Apparently, you must KNOW where an Osco is (no range) Search results appear directly under the input boxes.
   • CVS - Click STORE FINDER (yellow box under tabs), enter zip, click "Stores with Pharmacies". For prices, click PHARMACY COUNTER tab, Online Rx Prices
   • Walgreen's - Enter zip in Store Locator box, mid-page, left-side. For prices, in same area, under "Health Library", click Drug Information and Prices.
   • Meijer - Enter Zip Code in "My Meijer" box or click STORE LOCATOR tab and enter zip.
   • others, including:
     • Drugstore.com - For pricing, click "Low Drug Prices" under Prescriptions header, left column.
     • PharmacyChecker.com - Online and mail-order pharmacy verifier and drug cost comparison - Includes foreign pharmacies where ordering from the US "... is technically illegal" - and not all the domestics shown above) - Compares prices, as I said, with SOME of the above. Includes links to the actual online/mail-order pharmacy sites.
     • Drugs.com - Info only. Links to online/mail-order pharmacies verified by PharmacyChecker.com. Includes images of medications.
        

4. Look up all the prices you can on the 'net. Try to make sure they are all for the same prescription period (30 days, 90 days, etc.) or number of doses (30, 60, 90, 180, 360, whatever).

   I found CVS, Costco, Walgreens and Drugstore.com (they are the 4 white columns, again, not in that order), have online prices. CVS only lists those that are "popular", but there's a buncha them! If you can find more, all the better. Personally, I didn't want to look for off-shore (non-US) pharmacies ("... it is technically illegal" - source: PharmacyChecker.com: About Online Pharmacies and Medication/Drugs - US Customs & Border Protection (CBP.gov)), but there are those out there, too. Make sure you are using an address near you or your travels, except the online/mail-order types. For those, make sure you understand their shipping and handling charges, and privacy policies!
    

5. Call all of the others (and the ones you searched on the net, for meds that weren't listed, or dosages they didn't include). I didn't even have to give them my name (of course, it may have come across on the caller-id...) I told them I was in my "donut hole" and was pricing my medications. Most understood that. A couple of them needed to be told that I was going to have to pay for them myself. (Remember... Pharmacies have CONTRACTS with insurance companies, and CANNOT legally charge you differently than the contract, if you are not paying for them, yourself.) Almost all of them looked them up as I ran down the list, and gave me a price. One got the list, my phone number, and called me with the prices a few minutes later. A couple got the list, put me on hold for a few minutes and came back with the prices. Only ONE wasn't in the same order I gave to them.
    
6. Look at all the prices on your spreadsheet/table. Highlight, somehow (see above), those prices that are lowest for each med. You will probably find MOST of them at one place, and a couple at or near somewhere you go to all the time.
    
7. Look closely at the pharmacies nearest to where you live. You may find one you can order from for one or two times, even if it's a little higher than another closer to where you WORK or occasionally travel. You can't beat convenience, you know. And it will help your local economy if you purchase from them.
    
8. Talk over what you found with your doctor (and show him/her your spreadsheet)
    
9. Get the prescriptions!

NOTE: Prices of medicines change regularly, so you may want to keep that spreadsheet around, and do it again, when most of your prescriptions come up for refills.

Prescription Cards (and Discount Cards)

If you qualify, be sure you get prescription cards like RXIndiana (or HoosierRX), and maybe card(s) from manufacturers of brand-name drugs. Some of the above-listed pharmacies have discount plans and drug cards, too.

Make sure your medications (and whatever else) are covered before buying or subscribing to any of these. I was going to list some, but when I entered "prescription card" (with quotes) in Google, I got 338,000 pages (08/09/2006). NOTE: I do not endorse, nor do I have any (excpet my AARP card), but they can help.

Once you've decided on a possible, open a new browser window, enter the card's name (in quotes) and search again for negative comments. Some of these are scams. You may want to use certain other keywords with the company/card name  Some of the terms "sham", "scam", "scams", "flim-flam", "complain", "complaints", "rip", "rip-off", "fraud", "warning", similar words, and maybe just "review" can be used in searching for negative comments. (Example: "card name" "rip-off" or combine them using parentheses and Boolean words. If you don't know what "Boolean words" means, just use them separately, as in the example.) BUT, Remember that even the best in any business has detractors (right, Microsoft? Apple?, Ford, GM, Chrysler?) You get the idea. Just be sure you make an INFORMED decision.

Remember, discount cards are simply that. DISCOUNT cards. These discounts can range from very low to very high. Don't just take the first one you see. (Hmm... You MAY want to make a table for these, too!) Research what's available, and what's available in your area.

I hope this helps you save money. I know it did me!

---

by Bill Sanders © August 22, 2006 - email:
 

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