Part of a CtWatchdog series on the high cost of drugs and medicine in the United States
While politicians and big pharma fight about whether or how to lower our drug prices, Americans have many alternatives they can use to greatly reduce their cost for medicine.
The best way to save money on prescriptions is by using the internet.
The easiest way is to use GoodRx. You need to use both the GoodRx smart phone app as well as its internet version. On Sept. 17, the GoodRx app did not list the average retail prices, but the internet site did.
But, GoodRx is only one of a dozen apps and internet pharmacy websites that provide information on getting medicine at the cheapest price.
To get the best prices it’s going to take a little research.
To start with, you need to know that there is a tremendous difference in what pharmacies – including internet ones – charge for the same medication.
“A drug may cost pennies to manufacture, but independent or chain pharmacies may pay or be reimbursed different amounts for the same drug,” explains the Washington Post.
“As with any other product, it’s a free-market system. You could go from store to store and find the same drug costs from $2 to $200,” Varun Vaidya, a professor at the University of Toledo’s College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Ohio, told the Washington Post.
CVS, Walgreen, and Rite Aid – the largest pharmacies – charge the most for virtually all medications.
Walmart and Costco (you don’t need to be a member to use its pharmacy) frequently charge less.
Grocery chain pharmacies usually have the least expensive brick and mortar store prices, and for a few items may provide medication for free. My grocery store in Florida – Publix – provides blood pressure and antibiotic drugs for free.
Other than discount pharmacies, don’t expect regular pharmacies to inform you how to save money. And in my experience, I’ve never had a physician tell me to check internet prices.
CVS on its internet site, touts a “proprietary search tool,” intended to review coupons and other low cost options.
However, CVS did not volunteer to use the tool when I went in to a neighborhood store to get a price on metoprolol, a medication I take.
And when I asked about it, the pharmacy technician declined to use it and said I would be better of just checking the price on GoodRx. I did.
At retail, CVS says it charges $50 for 90 tablets of 50 mg.
Using the GoodRx coupon at CVS would reduce the price to $17.65, but the best deal available was $5.91 at Walmart, even without using a coupon.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers also provide discount cards for some drugs under certain conditions.
Other than for isolated instances at Walmart or in a supermarket pharmacy, using internet pharmacies is the cheapest way to obtain generic drugs, and 85 % of prescriptions are for generics.
Generally, you cannot use your insurance or Medicare when buying medication through internet companies and your purchases won’t count toward your deductible. However, Amazon’s Prime membership pharmaceutical service will accept insurance.
The best known internet pharmacies are: GoodRx (the oldest), Amazon, Singlecare, OptumPerks, Honeybee and GeniusRx.
Amazon, Honeybee, and GeniusRx prices include shipping.
Amazon – when you include free shipping – has amazing prices on some popular medications – for instance, Amazon’s price for metoprolol is $2.10. However, it is beaten by competitors on other medications. Also, many of the drugs on Amazon are priced for six month supplies.
The catch with Amazon is you have to be a Prime member, which costs at $119 a year. By getting you to join, Amazon counts on you buying non-pharmaceutical products, and if you are already a member, its another reason the company figures to keep you paying the membership fee.
Ctwatchdog does not receive any money for recommending products or companies.
How Are Internet Companies Able To Sell Drugs So Cheap And Still Earn A Profit?
U.S.-based internet drug companies are able to sell generic medication at as much as 95 % cheaper (generally about 80 %) than drug store chains because they are willing to accept lower profit margins than brick and mortar stores. They also have less overhead.
The sites that provide coupons also receive payments from pharmacies for every drug that is sold using their coupons.
They also get rebates from middlemen, sell advertising, or negotiate discounts on bulk drug purchases with pharmaceutical companies. Some have started telehealth services, bringing in additional revenue.
The reason brick and mortar stores accept internet pharmacy coupons – making less profit and sometimes actually losing money – is because they expect customers to make other purchases while in their stores, building brand loyalty. That is especially true for grocery stores which would love to have all your business.
Another reason chain pharmacies accept discount coupons is that many uninsured consumers aren’t able to pay for prescriptions and might not come into their stores.
Companies selling drugs directly to consumers through free shipping, cut out middlemen completely and buy directly from drug companies.
Prices for the same medication fluctuate from one internet company to another and its not possible to make a blanket statement as to which company has the best prices for all drugs.
Not all drugs are available through every internet company and the ones that provide free delivery can’t provide medication in a few states.
But chances are that you can get a better price for many medications than using your deductible. According to GoodRx almost 75% of its users are insured, Forbes reports.
If you are uninsured, your savings will be huge.
Start Your Research With GoodRx
The simplest way to compare prices is to start by going to GoodRx.com – the largest internet company that is used by 4.9 million people every month.
It has more partnerships with pharmacies than any other internet company and has discounts on more drugs. More than 70,000 pharmacies accept GoodRx coupons. GoodRx says it has saved a total of $30 billion for its customers.
GoodRx regularly updates its price comparisons so you have a good idea what the retail prices and coupon prices are.
The company checks prices for thousands of name brand and generic medications for CVS, Walgreen, Rite Aid, Walmart, Costco, and local grocery chain pharmacies. It will not provide price comparisons of its competitors.
It lists the average retail prices (on its internet site) as well as your cost if you use the GoodRx free discount coupons for your local pharmacies. It also list the prices of some drugs even though the store doesn’t accept coupons for that particular medicine. Especially true in the case of Walmart which for some medication its retail price is cheaper than using at GoodRx coupon.
It is simple to use. After checking the app for the lowest prices ask that pharmacy to fill your order. Using your smart phone simple show them the coupon. The pharmacy will enter the coupon into its computer and every time you reorder you will automatically receive the coupon price.
GoodRx also has a gold plan, that requires monthly payments. The savings are SOMETIMES larger than the regular coupon prices, but I would not recommend it unless you take many medications.
Not all stores accept GoodRx gold club coupons and they are good for only about 1,000 drugs.
The internet pharmacy business took off about 10 years ago when GoodRx’s founder, Doug Hirsch, noticed a huge difference in medication prices charged by different outlets. He and his initial partners then started comparing prices in an effort to find the stores that sell the cheapest drugs.
The company started forming partnerships with middlemen, who sell the drugs to pharmacies, as well as with pharmacies. It now has partnerships with more than 70,000 pharmacies.
As of last year, using its a proprietary technology, it aggregated “more than 150 billion prescription data points from many sources,” according to fourweekmba.com.
But, GoodRx sullied its reputation by selling customer information, including data that enabled companies to determine what medications the customer was taking. The company’s unethical dealings were discovered by Consumer Reports.
Consumer Reports – which had recommended GoodRx – after a lengthy investigation, discovered last February that it was selling data to more than 20 other internet-based companies.
“Google, Facebook, and a marketing company called Braze all received the names of medications people were researching, along with other details that could let them pinpoint whose phone or laptop is being used,” wrote Consumer Reports.
A month later, GoodRx said it stopped that practice and said it was providing customers with a way of removing their personal data.
Additional Ways To Save Money
Instead of getting 30 pills or capsules, ask your doctor to give you prescriptions for 90, or in the case of Amazon, six months’ worth.
For instance, using the cheapest GoodRx coupon, the price for the generic Lipitor is $8.11 for 30 pills of 40 mg strength.
By buying 90 pills at one time, the cost is $14.13.
Save even more by purchasing 80 mg pills, split them and the price only increases to $17.63 for what really becomes 180 pills.
So the cheapest price per tablet of 40mg 30 pills is $3.66. For 90 pills it’s 16 cents and if you split 90 pills at 80 mg your cost drops to 11 cents per day.
These prices are as of Sept. 17.
Canadian Internet Companies
When it comes to brand name drugs – medicine not available in generic form in the U.S. – Canadian internet companies are worth checking out. Generic drugs can also be less expensive in Canada. Canadian companies have access to some generic drugs which are only sold in the U.S. under their brand names.
It’s technically illegal for a U.S. resident to purchase medicine from a Canadian company, whether based in America or Canada. However, the law is rarely enforced.
I have purchased drugs through a Sarasota, Fl. based Canadian company for five years without any problems, cutting the cost of my medication by 94 %. In this case, only the brand name drug is available in the U.S., while the generic version is available in Canada and many other countries.
It’s not unusual for American pharmaceutical companies to prevent generic versions be sold in the U.S. by cutting deals with manufacturers of generic medications to delay selling them here.
Examples Of The Different Prices Brick and Mortar
And Internet Companies Charge For
Five Of The Most Prescribed Generic Medications
To give you an idea on the variations of what prices cost through internet pharmacies, Ctwatchdog examined the prices of five most prescribed generic drugs.
The list shows the cheapest price using different companies’ coupon or company prices that include shipping.
Stores like Genoa Healthcare, and Kroger, that are not available in all areas were not included.
On Sept. 16 the GoodRx smart phone app showed the average retail price for prescriptions, but not on Sept. 17. However, on its internet site, the average retail prices were available.
When you check prices, they might not be the same as these examples as internet pharmacies constantly update prices. The following prices were obtained Sept. 17.
Metformin (generic for Glucophage)
30 tablets 500mg
Average price according to GoodRx internet site – $15.38
Least expensive price using GoodRx app coupon is $4, but one grocery store gives it away for free.
Honeybee – $3
Singlecare – $4.83
CVS using GoodRx coupon – $13.82
GeniusRx – $6.60 including shipping
OptumPerks – $4
Amazon – including shipping 70 cents
Simvastatin (Generic for Zocor)
30 tablets 20 mg
Average price according to GoodRx internet site – $26.35
Least expensive using GoodRx coupon – $4
Honeybee – including shipping – $3
Singlecare – $30.49 for the cheapest price and only 90 pill price listed
CVS using GoodRx coupon – $19.20
GeniusRx – $5.40 including shipping
OptumPerks – $9
Amazon – $6.40 including shipping
Lisinopril (Generic for Prinivil or Zestril)
30 tablets 20 mg
Average price according to GoodRx internet site $11.64
Least expensive using GoodRx coupon – $4 – one grocery store was giving it away for free
Honeybee – which includes shipping – $3
Singlecare – $6.50, only 10 mg listed
CVS using GoodRx coupon – $12.48
OptumPerks – $4
GeniusRx – $4.20 including shipping
Amazon -$1 including shipping
Azithromycin (generic for Zithromax, Z-PAK)
6 tablets 250 mg
Average price according to GoodRx internet site $32.04
Costco – $6.99
Honeybee – which includes free shipping – $9
Singlecare – $6.99
CVS using GoodRx coupon – $14.99
Geniusrx – $20.46 including shipping
OptumPerks – $4
Amazon – $1 including shipping
Levothyroxine (generic for Synthroid)
30 tablets 25mcg
Average price according to GoodRx internet site – $16.72
Least expensive using Goodrx – $4
Honeybee – $5
Singlecare – $6.64, only 50 mcg listed
Geniusrx – $4.20 including shipping
CVS using GoodRx coupon – $9.73
OptumPerks – $4
Amazon – $3.80 including shipping
