When I went to pick up my allergy meds today, I got a little sticker shock; 2 one-month supplies, $215. You see, I don’t currently have health insurance nor prescription coverage. When I did, these prescriptions cost me $20. When I told the cashier/pharm-tech who was helping me this, she looked at me in astonishment, then said “Let me see what I can do.” She did a little computer magic and came back with a total price of $175, better but not great. But as I told her, “I have allergies and no insurance, so I guess I’m paying it.”
I recalled a few years back that I had a prescription discount card that paid for some of the costs, so I hopped online and googled around. I very easily found sites for prescription plans, but they all seamed a bit shady. Finally I came to an informational site, NeedyMeds.com, that didn’t seem to be directly selling anything, and very quickly found the Oregon Prescription Drug Program. Upon comparison of participating pharmacies and quoted prices for the allergy meds with some of the other prescription discount sites, the OPDP plan seems the best for me. Once I get my card next week, the quoted total price for my allergy meds should be $100, not great, but thats $125 off the original price, which after a few months is the price of a Wii.
If you are concerned about your prescription drug costs my company has just introduced a new resource that you may want to look into. It’s called EquivaMeds and it helps you find equivalent medications (not necessarily generics) for the condition you have. It doesn’t cover all medications and is limited to mostly oral (tables or capsules), but it does cover a lot of maintenance medications.
EquivaMeds finds these options, provides some comparative pricing, and then provides a way to send the information directly and privately to your doctor so that you two can start a dialog about the costs of the medications you are taking. If you both decide the options are worth trying, your doctor can write a new script; if not you don’t change. Either way, the result is that you know you’ve got the lowest cost medication for your condition.
It is available for free right now. Go to http://www.equivameds.com and if you choose to register use promo code 78483248 instead of entering a credit card.
Feel free to distribute to others you think could use help reducing their prescription drug costs. It works if you have insurance or not.
I just want to thank Justin for the nice words about the Oregon Prescription Drug Program (OPDP)! Yea, it’s not a panacea but it sure helps in large part due to the amazing pharmacies in Oregon that participate. It’s free to join, takes just a minute too. Go to http://www.opdp.org or call 800-913-4146 to enroll. You will get an I.D. card in 5 days with a list of the participating pharmacies. And say thanks to your Oregon State legislators for bringing you this program! Average savings are 45%, the BEST savings are on generics! The only requirement is that you reside in Oregon.
Missy Dolan, Administrator, OPDP