Do you or someone in your family take prescription medicine on a regular basis? Even if you do not, you can still save on prescription costs.
I am currently using a prescription skin cream that is VERY expensive. Thankfully, my insurance copay is only $25. Although my copay is a very small percentage of the actual cost of the drug, it can still add up over time. But, how can I reduce my out of pocket cost?
- Prescription Coupons - almost every week, there’s a new coupon for a new or transferred prescription. Usually, the coupons for a new prescription offer a $10 gift card and the transferred prescriptions offer a $25 gift card.
I cut out every coupon and save them for when I need to have a prescription filled. Every week, I update which coupons have been released in that week’s paper. Even if I don’t have a prescription to fill, I’ll still cut them out, because you never know. My 2 year old got pink eye last week, so I was able to use a $10 new prescription coupon for his eye drops.
Many pharmacies will also accept competitor coupons. CVS and Meijer both do, so even though CVS rarely offers their own prescription coupons, I can still fill a prescription there and get CVS gift cards. Plus, you get $1 ECB for every prescription you fill at CVS.
- Check for Discount Cards or Rebates – my doctor was kind enough to give me a discount card for one of my prescriptions, which reduced my copay to zero (plus I still used a gift card coupon). The prescription I’m on also offers a $25 rebate that I can send away for twice a year (which I found on the internet), so that reduces my copay to zero too.
- If you don’t have prescription insurance, you can get a free drug discount card to help you save on the cost of your medicines or do a search on Swagbucks for a prescription assistance program that some of the pharmaceutical companies offer to people with limited incomes and no insurance. Here’s an example of a program offered by Pfizer.
How do you save money on medicine? Do you know of any additional pharmacies that accept competitor’s coupons? For more frugal ideas, please visit Being Frugal.
Corrie is a "cents"able wife and stay-at-home mom of 2 boys.
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I’ve not heard some of these ideas. I’m checking them out. Came across your place via beingfrugal. Will def subscribe to your feed…
I also try to transfer perscriptions to save money. I have a monthly refil that cost $8 and have transfered it 2 times and received $25.
These are all good ideas. Some states restrict who can use prescription discounts and coupons, but it’s well worth looking into.
When CVS opened a new store in my area, they offered a CVS gift card to anyone who filled a prescription or updated a patient profile at the pharmacy. I’ve only seen that offer once, but it was a good one!
I got a perscription filled today at Ralphs (Kroger) and they had a big sign up that stated they were accepting competitor coupons for perscriptions too! I already had a coupon for $30 with and new perscription (which is why I was there instead of CVS) but I was glad to know I have another option.