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Thread: Prescription drug pricing insanity

  1. #1

    Prescription drug pricing insanity

    I am going to type this here knowing full well if I read this here I would be doubtful.

    Rosuvostatin (Generic Crestor) 90 day, 20 mg. With my prescription plan and High deductable insurance plan $170 at the CVS who runs my prescription plan.

    I call Walmart and they say cash price is $600.00

    I go on GoodRX and Shoprite with coupon is $ 22................they were out of it till February which sound like the punch line from the old banana joke.

    I go on GoodRX again and CVS accepts GoodRX coupon for $49.

    So I go to the store and pay the $49 without my plan instead of the $170 with the plan................

    I never really shopped scripts around because I thought going with the plan has to be the best price...........apparently not! Unreal.

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Not directly comparable but before Christmas I picked up some replacement supplies for my CPAP, new mask and hose and some Humidx filters. Bill came to $269, paid with my Visa. Supplier offered to submit the insurance claim for me. Yesterday I got the check from the insurance company for the full amount coincidently the same day my Visa bill arrived. I deposited the check using my phone app and I still have a few weeks before my Visa bill is due. That's the way it should work.

  3. #3
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    My mom had an RX for some eye drops. The cost was something like $150. The same eye drops at the same pharmacy but double the strength was around $17. The pharmacy could not fill with the cheaper because of the strength difference.

    Every time you get a RX you have to ask "Is this the lowest price available to me?" To my understanding they are then required to see if a lower price is available.
    "Remember back in the day, when things were made by hand, and people took pride in their work?"
    - Rick Dale

  4. #4
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    Please disregard....
    Last edited by Rich Engelhardt; 01-18-2019 at 6:40 PM. Reason: Post surgery isn't the time to post anything... ;).
    My granddad always said, :As one door closes, another opens".
    Wonderful man, terrible cabinet maker...

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Lehnert View Post
    Every time you get a RX you have to ask "Is this the lowest price available to me?" To my understanding they are then required to see if a lower price is available.
    Yes. Insist on it.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Lehnert View Post
    Every time you get a RX you have to ask "Is this the lowest price available to me?" To my understanding they are then required to see if a lower price is available.
    In NYS they are forbidden from telling you.
    A few weeks ago I filled a prescription my insurance didn't cover. $500! Or $34 with a GoodRX coupon. Beats the hell out of me.

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    San Antonio, TX
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    What is this GOodRX thing? It sounds like it is something I need to make my retired dad about

  8. #8
    Years ago was put on Synthroid (Brand name.) Co-payment was $72. Pharmacist told me to just pay cash, as price would only be $54 retail. Asked where the extra money went. Was told, first insurance company doesn't pay retail, and anything more than their price was sent back to insurance company. So I was paying insurance company to use my benefits. I currently have a bill for lab work that is only $21, which insurance paid, but I have to pay a $40 co- payment. Care to guess who pockets the difference?

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by John Stankus View Post
    What is this GOodRX thing? It sounds like it is something I need to make my retired dad about
    I just found out about it myself. Google GoodRX...........type in you med mg and count and a list of prices for various stores come up and you just print the coupon.

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    Good Rx worked for me too. A $170 out of pocket prescription that insurance would not cover. $20 with GoodRx coupon. Sign up for it online, and the instructions are pretty straightforward. They provide price info at various mainstream pharmacies and you can pick the one you're going to use.

    I had another prescription for an arthritis pain cream. $80 our pocket for a tube. Bought the exact same tube in a grocery store in Canada, off the shelf for $9.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Rich Engelhardt View Post
    Please disregard....

    Hope you feel better soon!

  12. #12
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    I think the law varied by state but as said, the druggist was not allowed to tell you that you could do better without using your insurance. I thought I read recently that there was a new federal law preventing that but can't remember the details. In any case, it's worth shopping around and asking questions. In some cases I believe they were allowed to tell you about different prices if you asked but could not volunteer the information.

    About a year ago I was going to fill a prescription for the generic version of a drug I won't name but it's a guy thing. Walgreen's was going to charge me over $200. Acting on a tip from a confidential source, I went to the independent pharmacy down the street and got if for $30.

    Drug pricing is a bad joke. So is the rest of our medical system. I just Googled health care ranking by country. We're #29 out of 60, right between the Czech Republic and Croatia.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Alan Rutherford View Post
    I think the law varied by state but as said, the druggist was not allowed to tell you that you could do better without using your insurance.
    Am I reading that correctly? There is a law that prevents the pharmacist from letting you know you there is a less costly alternative way to buy the drug without your insurance?

  14. #14
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Edwin Santos View Post
    Am I reading that correctly? There is a law that prevents the pharmacist from letting you know you there is a less costly alternative way to buy the drug without your insurance?
    Yes. Absolutely. Apparently gone now, in October. See this: https://www.pharmacytimes.com/confer...for-pharmacies
    Last edited by Alan Rutherford; 01-19-2019 at 12:51 PM.

  15. #15
    I just got my 90 day supply of Crestor (not a generic brand) and it cost me 68 cents....
    Last edited by Barry McFadden; 01-19-2019 at 6:24 PM.

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