• Publix.com - 14 day supply of select antiobiotics for FREE
• Walmart.com - 30-day supply of select generic drugs for $4 or a 90-day supply for $10
• Target.com - 30-day supply of select generic drugs for $4 or a 90-day supply for $10
• Kmart.com -
3 month supply of select generic drugs for $15
• pparx.org - find the RX program for your state or country
• isaverx.net - prescription help for Illinois residents
• drugsavings.wi.gov - Wisconsin's approved Canadian pharmacy list
• minnesotarxconnect.com - Minnesota's approved Canadian pharmacy list
• Eli Lilly - With the "LillyAnswers" discount card, low-income seniors can get a 30-day supply of Lilly retail drugs such as Prozac and Vista, an osteoporosis drug for just $12 a month. To qualify for the card, seniors must have income of less than $18,000 a year as singles or $24,000 as couples. The card will be honored at CVS, Longs and Wal-Mart pharmacies. Call 1-877-RX-LILLY to apply.
• GlaxoSmithKline - GSK is starting the "Orange Card" program, which gives elderly people who qualify 25 percent off their perscriptions. You must be 65 or older and have annual incomes of at or less than $26,000 for individuals or $35,000 for a couple. Check back to this site for updates on how to register. To read an article about the GSK plan, click here.
• Rxaminer - For a $10 fee, Rxaminer will permit users to enter all current prescriptions and returns a list of available generic or other suggested brands for less money.
• The Medicine Program - The prescription discount program is available to those with family incomes ranging from below the national poverty level to $60,000 who don't have health insurance. Call 573-996-7300 and ask for an application. Or, check the Phrma Web site Phrma.org for a list of drug companies.
More tips to consider:
Consider online purchases that could typically save 20% to 30%.
Many consumers find very low prices purchasing prescription drugs from Canada.
Are you over age 50? AARP offers discounts on mail-in orders.
Are you a member of a managed care health program? Consider a 90-day supply of your medicine vs. a one-month supply. You'll pay one co-payment vs. three.
Ask if your medication is cheaper in a higher milligram dose. Then, cut the tablet as needed for your proper dose. This method can save up to 75% of the cost.
Always ask if a generic brand of your prescribed medicine is cheaper.
May 06, 2008 -- Wal-Mart expands affordable drug program
There's been so much press on Wal-Mart's decision to cut the price of prescription drugs yet again. The mega-retailer's original $4 prescription plan completely changed the face of the business. Generic meds now account for an overwhelming number of prescriptions in the United States. Wal-Mart played a big role in breaking the stranglehold that Big Pharma's TV ads had on the market.
Now Wal-Mart's program is being expanded to allow a 90-day supply for $10. Target has immediately matched the deal. While you'll save $2 over 3 months, Wal-Mart and Target benefit by saving on the cost of labor. Wal-Mart is also making its private label brand, Equate, available on the list of approved drugs.
Meanwhile, the June edition of Consumer Reports names the best pharmacies based on price and service. Costco is tops when it comes to saving on brand-name drugs. The warehouse club can be hundreds of dollars cheaper over the life of a prescription than the big chain drugstores like Walgreens and Rite-Aid. The beauty of Costco's pharmacy is that you do not have to be a member to use it. Some Costcos even have a separate pharmacy entrance for non-members to cut down on the risk of shoplifting.
If you're looking for the best service, Consumer Reports says you should try an independently owned pharmacy. Indies get a score of 92 out of 100 for service, while Costco only gets a respectable 85. Meanwhile, if you use a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) through your work, Cigna and Aetna are dead last. They get the lowest marks in the shopping experience category. On the flip side, Caremark has been singled out as the best PBM.
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Nov 13, 2007 -- Pharmacists should be empowered to write prescriptions
Since the late 1980s, Clark has thought it's crazy that medications can only be dispensed when a doctor writes a prescription. Many other countries have their pharmacists write scripts and dispense the medication. The FDA is now considering adopting a similar policy. We're not talking highly addictive things like Vicodin or Oxycontin here; we're talking about two-week cycles of antibiotics and other relatively benign medications. Clark loves this idea. Doctors are already overworked and in short supply. Because pharmacists are very well-trained and knowledgeable about medications, it's almost a no-brainer to allow them to pick up some of the slack. The Los Angeles Times reports that Kaiser Permanente pharmacists already have the authority to write and fill their own scripts.
Pharmacists are a vastly underutilized resource. To treat them like clericals who just fill prescriptions isn't Clark Smart. The numbers of primary care doctors are down 50 percent, so empowering pharmacists to write prescriptions is one possible solution to the shortage. Clark knows doctors will be up in arms about his feelings on this issue, so he's ready for the fallout on the Clark Stinks forum! On a related noted, Minnesota has banned pharmaceutical sales reps from giving free gifts and meals to doctors. These kinds of sales practices subtly influence the brand choices doctors make when they write prescriptions. Now The New York Times reports that the pharmaceutical companies have come up with yet another tactic to influence the selection of scripts; they're wooing nurses and office managers since they can't get to the doctors anymore!
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Nov 12, 2007 -- Take advantage of healthcare advocates
Navigating the healthcare maze can be an exhausting process if you or your family members are sick. Employers are starting to understand this and make healthcare advocates available to their employees as a free benefit. Healthcare advocates are usually former medical professionals who help people get what they need from the medical system. Right now about 3,000 employers offer healthcare advocate access. But very few workers even know they're entitled to such a benefit. Clark thinks of the healthcare advocacy phenomenon like he does expeditors. When you live in a city, sometimes you can hire an expeditor who knows the right people to contact to expedite any request. In the same way, healthcare advocates can assist you in getting to doctors and certain facilities that you might not be able to get into on your own. Of course, it goes without saying that healthcare should not be this difficult. Yet that's the reality. Healthcare spending accounts for 1 in every 6 dollars in our economy and it's not slowing down anytime soon.
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Nov 09, 2007 -- Clark's shaving, eyeglasses cheapness rankles some
Clark's cheapness has set off a couple of recent firestorms. Syndicated financial writer Greg Karp recently wrote about Clark's use of a single 17-cent razor for a year. Last March, Clark graduated to his second razor. But spending 34 cents on blades for two years is pretty good, don't you think? Yet many people have expressed that they think this is cheapness without a purpose because his razors are so cheap to begin with. In a way, Clark agrees -- but he'd definitely be saving a lot over time if his blade of choice was an expensive one. Other people are upset with Clark over the Zenni Optical issue. For those of you who don't know, Zenni provides deeply discounted prescription eyeglasses starting at $8. Clark himself wears progressive lenses from Zenni that cost him $41. But some people wonder how they can be any good if they're so cheap. Clark's friend Jim Strickland, an investigative reporter for WSB-TV, recently did a story about eyeglasses where he compared Zennis and a number other more expensive brands. The Zennis had perfect prescriptions versus the glasses that were filled at well-known optometry chain stores. The message here is that buying cheap glasses does not automatically mean you'll get bad quality. Consumer Reports recently revealed the three best places to have your eyeglasses prescription filled: At an independent practice where the optometrist has his or her own dispensing operation; at a Costco location; and at the For Eyes Optical discount chain.
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Nov 02, 2007 -- Healthcare costing you and your employer more
Health benefits are becoming more and more expensive for employers to provide. The Dallas Morning News estimates that the average employee will cost their company $9,312 next year. In classic cost-shifting mode, your share is going to steadily rise too. Employer costs are up about 50 percent over the last five years, but employee portions are up around 60 percent! Healthcare accounts for 1 in every 6 dollars spent in our country. So this hot potato issue is only going to keep getting hotter. Clark advises people to pay close attention during open enrollment periods. You need to make the smartest choice you can. If you choose unwisely, you may have limited and expensive access to certain services should you become ill. The latest stats show that the average employee will pay $165 out-of-pocket every month in 2008. But Joel -- one of Clark's producers -- is 23 and can buy an individual policy for about $65 per month because of his young age. That's without any employer subsidy. Meanwhile, Clark at 52 years of age would be charged big bucks for the same policy. The cost rises as you get older. Yet older workers rarely call out sick unless they're truly ill -- unlike younger folks who take mental health days. But it all balances out because older workers tend to be out for longer when they actually do get sick.
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