I guess I don't understand. Our drug co-pays are $4 through insurance.

Then stick with it, Martha. Lucky you. My insurance changed the classification of an inhaler I was on from "preventative" to "maintenance". So this little wording change caused me to go from a copay of 0 to a copay of 360.00. I did check goodrx and I can get it for 250.00 out of pocket.

When paying cash you also have the benefit of shopping around for the lowest available option. What may cost 400 at your local CVS, could be 350 at Costco.

Neither of us are on meds but it's entirely possible to save $$$ on meds if you ask for cash price at pharmacy.

Your health insurance provider almost always contracts with a PBM (Pharmacy Benefit Manager) to provide your benefits, whether you see their name on your insurance card or not.

Ask for discount price at counter. They should forego the PBM price for your cash price. If not, shop at a pharmacy that will. Kroger will discount your prescription.

I do mostly mail order through my insurance companies pharmacy link but occasionally if I need a script filled "now" I go to CVS. Only once was the cash price lower. The pharmacy actually did some pricing tricks to get me a even lower cost.

If you're paying cash for a prescription, try using one of those prescription discount cards. My DH was given a prescription for an 8 oz bottle of cough syrup was $40+. The pharmacy used a discount card and it brought the price down to $11.

I spend a fair amount of time helping my elderly neighbors become criminals by ordering meds from Canada, where a three month supply of, say, Advair is less than one month here when your insurance no longer covers it. You just need the doctor to write or fax the prescription for you, and the meds are identical to what you get here.

GoodRX is not accepted by a lot of pharmacies and it doesn't always make that much difference for the more expensive medications. Publix doesn't take it, for instance, although they do give a small cash discount, and at least in our store, the pharmacists are very good about searching around for drug-specific discount cards.

In Ohio there is a discount program sponsored by the state; there is also a separate one sponsored by my county (don't know if other counties have one). Easy to register for them on-line, then at each program's website one can search specific medications and see where it is least expensive, and also compare local pharmacy monthly vs 3 month refills. Before my insurance plan switched to mandatory ordering through them, I was saving $5/month on my single medication via the county discount program, as opposed to the best price at Kroger. I will now be paying a few dollars more per month to get it through my insurer -- it is a high deductible plan, so it is all coming out of my pocket regardless of where I buy it, which makes me quite annoyed at the situation.

My doctor is the one that told me about Good rx. After the flood when we had lost all of our meds and insurance would not replace them she wrote new ones and printed out the Good Rx coupons for me. I was very happy with the deal we were able to get.

those "can't afford your medication?" commercials... real. doctor changed cholesterol med to Crestor. almost ended up on floor of pharmacy when i found out Crestor was about $350 a month! Figured I knew what was gonna kill me, right? the actually noticed commercial on TV. printed out application from their web site. had to fill in a little bit of financial info... like that i was on social security. doctor had to fax in prescription. i ended up getting crestor FREE for over 2 years... until there was a generic version... then the script went down to about $40/month.

I choked when I was told the price for the mild chemo my DH takes everyday. We’d have to be a millionaires several times over to support his prescription for as long as he’s going to need it. It really shouldn’t be that way.

These stories illustrate the craziness of our health care system. I wish I could just go to my ol' country vet (kidding ... mostly!).

Also, always call around to different pharmacies. In my little pea brain, I didn't think that the actual cost could vary as much as it does for those meds that are not covered.

before Zantac was OTC, sister had a yellow lab with stomach issues. she tried to get vet to write the prescription for HER so she could use her prescription plan... joking, sorta.

i had a stomach "thing" little over a year ago. came home from hospital with 2-3 prescriptions to be filled. my sister (nurse ratched) got me settled in at home and then off to get prescriptions filled. she called me from pharmacy... one of the prescriptions was almost $200... for a months worth. i told her not to get it and called doctor. medication was in a liquid form. he gave me prescription for SAME thing in these massive, chalky, "horse pills" that instantly started dissolving once they hit my tongue. not the most pleasant but $8-10 for a months worth?? needless to say, i just drink a LOT of water to get them down!

If your meds come in tablet form, invest in a pill splitter. I am able to cut up two of DH's meds. They are the same price, regardless what dosage you buy. In one case I halve them; in the other, I get four doses from one pill.

Our MD is a 'collaborator'; she writes the scrip for the larger dose to be taken once a day.

I only have one expensive maintenance med: Advair. I've had no luck asking for the 'cash price' at either Walgreens or CVS. It's so expensive that I'm always in the Part D insurance's 'donut hole' by the end of October.

Have you noticed the ads by Big Pharma on TV -- telling us how they work night and day developing new medicines that are making our lives better? I wish I thought they were running scared.

Make sure that when you choose to use the "cash price" option you aren't shooting yourself in the foot! My particular health insurance plan counts prescriptions when computing whether I've met the deductible and maximum out of pocket for the year. It makes no difference whether it is an expensive prescription or a procedure, once I've paid the "maximum out of pocket" for the year, everything is fully covered.