I saved 80$ dollars on a prescription last week — Isn’t that crazy?!
I lived in Asia in my 20s and one of the cultural differences I had to learn was remembering that prices are negotiable on that side of the globe.
Here, the prices we see in a grocery store are fixed right? Well, last week I discovered that medications might be a little less firm in price than a loaf of bread.
I brought a script to the pharmacy that is usually not covered by insurance. I was advised by my doc it’s usually about 40$-60$ but the pharmacist quoted the cash price at 110$.
I know from previous interactions with insurance that sometimes the what the meds are mixed in affects the price even if the active ingredient is the same.
So I asked if he thought this could help bring the price down?
His response blew my mind. “Well, I have a discount I could apply to help. It will be 30$.”
“That’s fantastic!! Thanks a lot! 80$ is much better than 110$.”
“No, the TOTAL price will be 30$.”
Wait, What????!! I felt a mixture of excitement and disbelief.
I was excited that I would be paying less that what the usual range but felt disbelief that if I hadn’t asked for options, I would have just paid the $110!
I have no idea if it’s what the med was in or if the pharmacist used a discount card like GoodRX. I’ve heard good things about those but I never seem to remember to use when I need to fill a script.
I share this story to help others consider tweaking their thinking around med prices.
Meds are expensive but there are ways to manage this. If I had a patient who couldn’t afford their meds, I would call the drug companies directly to see if anything could be done.
Sometimes the company would send over a few months of samples to help them get by!
My life’s passion is sharing my experiences so others can benefit from what I’ve learned.
The take home message today is that it never hurts to ask for more information. Very few people I know have a clear understanding of how prices are set, so it means it’s always worth asking!!
In my case, I would have overpaid by 80$!!
That’s a lot of extra money that could be used to buy a tank of gas or on fun things in life!
