Simvastatin (brand name: Zocor) is a very popular cholesterol medication. If you are experiencing trouble paying for your cholesterol lowering medication, ask your doctor about the cost saving opportunity with simvastatin. A list of retailers and grocery stores that offer the medication at a large discount follows: Listed below is a partial list of those stores offering either a 30 or 90 day quantity at a deep discount to the consumer. Costco– 90 days for $9.99 Hyvee–30s day for $4.00 Price Chopper–90 days for $10.00 Kmart – $15.00 for 90 days Giant Eagle – $4.00 for 30 days, $10.00 for 90 days Rite-Aid – 30 days for $8.99, 90 days for $15.99 Walmart and Target do not offer Simvastatin on their $4.00 list but will price match any pharmacy located in the general vicinity. If you have found a … Continue reading
$4.00 Simvastatin
Sam’s Club Pharmacy Sam’s Club Pharmacy can offer huge savings to the consumer on prescription drugs, especially on generic medications. By price matching 30-day medications on the $4.00 list at Walmart, Target, and a variety of grocery store chains, their cash prices are rarely if ever beaten. If you don’t have insurance and a generic is not available, consider obtaining prices on their brand name medications as well. They are typically very competitively priced. Buying in bulk can offer even larger discounts on these medications. Instead of buying 30 or even 90 days worth of medication at a time, find out how much it would be for 6 months or even a year. If you are taking the same medication every day and have been for the past several years (and assuming its working), why not load up one time. … Continue reading
by Michael Rea, PharmD It is a common misconception that by having insurance, whether it be private insurance purchased through an employer or a Medicare Part-D plan, you are getting the “best” price. With plan premiums costing up to $100+ every month, this is important to consider when you are searching for an insurance plan. Many people shy away from higher deductible plans due to the fear of paying any money out of pocket. In the long run, this could potentially cost you even more money. Let’s look at an example. An individual we helped recently was paying a $10.00 copay every month for Lisinopril, a generic drug used to treat blood pressure. This person who was on a fixed income was very happy with this price and even made a remark to us that we could forego trying to … Continue reading
-by Michael Rea, PharmD For most items purchased in retail stores, there is generally a suggested retail price that is a sort of benchmark, and variations from this price are small. Take toothpaste for example. It may be $3.30 a tube at one location, say Walmart, and $3.69 at another like Target. Generally speaking, however, it is at a roughly stable pricing point. This is due in large part to the transparency of the product from one store to the next. If the consumer sees a large price difference, they are typically turned off by that store and may begin shopping somewhere else. Retail stores know this, and although price differences exist, they are typically within a small range from one store to the next. When we look at pharmacy, it is a whole different ballgame! Most pharmacies routinely … Continue reading
Literally millions of Americans have high cholesterol and take Niaspan as part of their daily therapy. Finding a coupon or co-pay assistance card online is all but impossible. Luckily, one of our pharmacists found out that there are co-pay assistance cards still available, and was able to obtain a handful of them for our customers. If you (or someone you know) uses Niaspan, get in touch with one of our pharmacists for more information about becoming a customer. The coupons will lower your insurance copay to as low as $15 per month. email: pharmacist@rxsavingsllc.com *Please note, these coupon cards do not work with government issued insurance such as Medicare, Medicaid or Tricare.
We are less than 6 months away from the most anticipated generic drug release in pharmaceutical history…..or are we? Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals is expected to be the sole generic manufacturer for the first six months for generic Lipitor. This is projected to occur and be available to the public for purchase November 30, 2011. The problem at hand is that Ranbaxy has run into some recent issues with the FDA that are cited as a “pattern of fraudulent conduct.” This fraudulent conduct includes the accusation that Ranbaxy didn’t follow FDA guidelines for quality tests and other manufacturing standards. If they fail to comply with the FDA and meet all guidelines set forth, this date could be delayed significantly for up to 6 months. The development of this story is big news for the millions of Americans taking Lipitor, and other statin … Continue reading
This month saw a number of brand name medications become available in their generic form. If you’re on one of the following medications, be sure to ask your doctor or pharmacist about the savings available. Amrix (cyclobenzeprine extended release) gained generic approval and showed up in stores the last week of May. Amrix is a skeletal muscle relaxant used to treat muscle pain of various types. Amitiza (lubriprostone) is a chloride channel activator used to treat irritable bowel syndrome with constipation in women. It gained generic status availability May 31st. Femara (letrozole) is an aromatase inhibitor used to treat breast cancer in women after menopause. It gained generic status availability June 3rd. If you are on any of the above medications, ask your pharmacist if you are able to save by switching to the generic formulation. As always, if you … Continue reading
Over the past several weeks we have received several Donut Hole Coverage questions, and wanted to take a few minutes this week to address what has changed in 2011. With the passage of the healthcare act in 2010, several provisions were put in place to help alleviate the burden of the donut hole or coverage gap that 24% of all Medicare recipients with Part D coverage experience each year. Here are a few facts about the program, and what has changed in 2011. The initial deductible for those with Medicare Part D in 2011 is $310. This means the enrollee will foot the bill for the first $310 in prescription charges entirely. The coverage limit for 2011 is $2,840. This means that the total amount of charges (both what you pay out of pocket, and the portion the insurance kicks … Continue reading
Any medical professional, especially pharmacists, will tell you a drug is no good if you don’t take it. Often times we focus on the cost of these medications, but today we are going to focus on a hidden cost associated with non-compliance. Medication non-compliance is an issue that costs the American Healthcare System over $100 billion and 89,000 deaths each year. Medication compliance is an issue that plagues us all, young and old. Whether it is due to a busy lifestyle or pure forgetfulness, we wanted to highlight a product today that goes beyond putting pills in a box labeled for each day of the week. This product offers a full suite of information for the user, including a box for each time of the day to measure out doses, a chart for each pill telling what it is and … Continue reading
In a twist from our normal blog entries centered around saving money on prescription medication, we wanted to turn our focus this week to a recent FDA report that is applicable to all parents, family members, or other caregivers of an infant. According to the FDA, products containing benzocaine (the active ingredient in popular over the counter teething medications like Orajel, Anbesol, and Lanacane to name a few), can decrease the amount of oxygen being carried to through the blood, and could be fatal. The article states, “Parents and caregivers should not use OTC benzocaine products on children under two years of age, except under the advice and supervision of a healthcare professional. If benzocaine products are used, it should be used sparingly and only when needed, but not more than four times a day.” To read more, follow this … Continue reading
