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.
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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.
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