This post was sponsored by Optum Perks and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.
Whether you have prescription medication that you have to take on a regular basis for a chronic condition or you need some medicine one time only due to an illness, prescriptions can get really expensive! And if you don't have health insurance that pays for your prescriptions, your out of pocket payment can end up being more than you can afford, especially if you just lost your job.
However, you don't have to go broke paying for prescriptions with these 4 tricks to save money on prescriptions even if you don't have health insurance:
Compare Prices at Retailers
Did you know that prices for prescriptions can vary widely across different retailers? For example, a medication that I take daily can vary between $10 and $33 for a 90 day supply. Of course, I'd rather pay the $10 price!
I'm able to quickly comparison shop prescriptions between various retailers by using Optum Perks. Comparison shopping is super important if you don't have insurance to help you cover your medication costs. And, I love how Optum Perks does all the work for me, so I don't have to waste time calling multiple pharmacies for prices.
What is Optum Perks
Optum Perks is a free prescription discount card that can help you save money on FDA approved medication nationwide (including over 64,000 pharmacies). Optum Perks is able to negotiate bulk pricing with pharmaceutical companies that they pass on to you.
You don't need to have insurance to use Optum Perks. In fact, if you do have insurance, you can bring both your insurance card and your Optum Perks card to the pharmacy to see which price is better - your insurance copay or the coupon price through Optum Perks.
To date, 18.6 million people have used Optum Perks discounts to save more than $1.7 billion on prescription medications.
Once you have your card, you can search for your prescription and choose the lowest priced pharmacy.
Then, you can have a coupon for the prescription sent to you via email or text (or you can simply print the coupon). Just bring the coupon with you to the pharmacy and show it to the pharmacist to save money on your prescription.
Buy Generic Medications
The generic version of prescription medication is almost always less expensive than the name brand version even if you don't have insurance. You can ask your doctor or pharmacist if there is a generic version of your medication and then search Optum Perks for the best prices for both the name brand and generic prescription to help you make your decision.
Get a Longer Supply
If you take a prescription regularly, search Optum Perks to see if you could save money by getting a 90 day supply instead of a 30 day supply. With my medication, the lowest price is $4 for a 30 day supply of the generic with Optum Perks or $10 for a 90 day supply. So, if I go for the longer supply, I'll save $2 (and I can visit the pharmacy less often).
Apply for Assistance
If you can't afford your prescriptions even after using your Optum Perks prescription discount card, you can apply for assistance from various organizations, including directly from the drug company. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for some options.
How do you save money on medicine? Do you know of any additional pharmacies that accept competitor's coupons?
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