Complete Guide to Obtaining Low-Cost Medication
Healthcare costs continue to soar in the U.S., leaving many wondering just how to cover the expenses associated with their care. The average American spends $1,200 annually on prescription medications, while according to AARP, the average annual cost for seniors taking 4-5 of the most commonly prescribed prescriptions clocks in at an unobtainable $31,000. With more people than ever losing their workplace health coverage, the burden of paying for medication creates ever-present stress. In fact, as of the 2020 census, over 8% of Americans had no health coverage at all.
Even then, many prescription drugs can carry hefty copays that make them inaccessible regardless of insurance.
Why is Medication so Expensive?
The average cost per capita for prescription drugs is higher in the U.S. than in any other developed country in the world. Drug companies often claim this is due to research and development costs, but a study study published in the journal of health begs to differ. In fact, it's just the opposite: Given a lack of regulation on pricing, pharmaceutical companies have raised the cost of medications that are already in the market year after year. The review of over 27,000 different name brand drugs found that the average cost of oral drugs rose by 9% while the cost of intravenous drugs rose by an egregious 15% each year between 2008 and 2016. Meanwhile, inflation only rose by about 2% each year, discounting this increase as the cause of the price hikes.
Essentially, a lack of regulation on these rising costs has made it easy for companies to charge what they want for drugs people need. In one extreme case, the price of a certain brand of insulin increased by 49% over the course of one year- Although it had already been on the market for a decade.
While it can feel impossible to get a hold of the medication you need at a price you can afford, there are ways to obtain low-cost medication. You can cut costs both by circumventing the expenses of visiting a doctor or urgent care office, and then again by finding savvy discounts of products you already use.
Get a Doctor's Prescription Online
One major hurdle to obtaining low-cost medication can be getting a doctor's appointment to begin with. In-person appointments with a physician can average $300, and that's before you pay for any medication. One way to circumvent this up-front cost is to get a prescription online from a doctor who offers Telemedicine. Telehealth visits typically average between 40-80 dollars, offering major savings for those on a budget. Many insurance companies offer this service for free, making it cheaper to get a doctor's prescription online than to try and tangle with in-office copays.
Some telehealth services, such as The Pill Club, offer prescriptions for simple services such as birth control at a steep discount. Services such as these will provide an intake assessment for a minimal cost, or sometimes for free, and then ship prescriptions to your door for affordable prices.
Other telehealth services can provide a wider range of prescriptions, including antibiotics, statins, and even viagra prescriptions. Online doctors will meet with you, discuss your medical history and needs, and provide you with prescriptions you can take to the pharmacy for much less than traditional visits would cost. These sites are excellent for saving money if you need a prescription while on vacation, forgot to order a refill before a weekend or holiday, live somewhere that makes traveling to the doctor a hassle, or a simply uninsured and unable to pay full price for an in-office visit. You can visit sites such as QuickRXRefill to get a prescription from a doctor online quickly and, more importantly, affordably.
Use a Prescription Discount Card
What if you already have a prescription, but can't afford to fill it? Prescription discount cards may be the perfect answer for you. Prescription discount cards, sometimes called pharmacy cards, Rx cards, or drug discount cards, are paid or free services that offer you steep discounts on prescription drugs. Most of these cards only offer discounts on generic drugs, but they can lower prices by as much as 90%.
While prescription discount cards cannot be used in combination with insurance, they may be worth looking into regardless of your status: Some cards offer a price lower than even your prescription copays and with half of the hassle of registering prescription information. They are easy to use, and more often than not, free.
How Do Prescription Discount Cards Work?
Savings programs such as GoodRx, WellRx, and others work with pharmacies to negotiate lower bulk prices for those in their member groups. Members then use their cards when making purchases at the pharmacy and enjoy the lower price. At the same time, pharmacies benefit from being part of these programs because they bring in referral traffic that may have otherwise gone elsewhere or chosen not to fill their prescriptions at all.
In some cases, the pharmacy will pay the card company a small fee for every prescription filled, as a referral fee of sorts. In other cases, discount card companies generate revenue by charging members a nominal membership fee to be a part of the program.
What Different Cards are Available?
There are many prescription discount card companies out there, all with different pros and cons. Whether you have an existing prescription or get a prescription online from a doctor via telehealth, this option can help cut costs in a big way.
Based upon average prices of the most popular drugs, most often prescribed combinations, ease of use, and the number of locations where they're accepted, some of the top prescription card companies are WellRx, FamilyWise, SingleCare, and RxSaver. While the options may seem confusing, weighing the pros and cons of each brand will help you make the best choice for you.
SingleCare
This popular prescription discount card company partners with over 35,000 pharmacies to provide discounts on more than 10,000 generic prescription drugs. It features a comprehensive, easy-to-navigate desktop website and is completely free to use. They have a "bonus bucks" program to incentivize purchasing certain prescriptions and refilling them via SingleCare, and these rewards can be applied to future purchases to bolster your savings even further. You will need a valid prescription to use this service, so it's advisable to make a telehealth appointment in advance so that you can get a doctor's prescription online first.
Pros:
- An easy-to-use app that lets you search for coupons on the go. You can also save prescriptions you use frequently for later use on the mobile app.
- Over 35,000 covered pharmacies mean that you can use your card almost anywhere.
- They offer free home delivery on 40% of their covered drugs, making this a great option for seniors or others who have trouble getting to the pharmacy.
- Their partnership with GeniusRx makes it easy to transfer prescriptions to the home delivery system while still getting your discount card price.
- They don't charge a membership fee, making this a cost-free savings route.
Cons:
- Unlike some other service providers, SingleCare doesn't offer a premium plan to bundle with telehealth or vision discounts.
- They also have no "frills" in terms of smart features: Other plans offer barcode scanners, spell check (for when you're struggling to remember how many "x"s your medicine contains,) and even pill ID scanners to help you find out which pill you've lost between your car seats.
Overall, SingleCare is a fantastic option if you're looking for discounts and home delivery on a budget, and don't care too much about the VIP treatment.
FamilyWize
This streamlined discount card service offers a straight-to-the-point search function and offers the benefit of privacy given their no-signup model. This is a great choice to search for your medication at a lower price after you get a prescription online from a doctor.
Pros:
- FamilyWize offers an incredibly smart search tool on their site, offering spelling corrections based upon your best guess of how to spell the name of your drug.
- Most big-name pharmacies are covered and can be accessed when you search for your drug.
- Printable coupons and no subscription make this ideal for people who want relative anonymity in terms of who is filling what prescriptions, and where.
Cons:
- While their website works on mobile phones, and you can text yourself your coupons, this service offers no mobile app.
- Their site makes it difficult to order a physical card. While they tout the convenience of their reusable card, there is no obviously-placed location where you can order one. Printable and text-friendly coupons for individual drugs are nice, but it should be easier to order a hard copy of your card.
- There's no way to track coupons you've printed before for easy re-ordering of your most-used prescriptions.
This is a good option if you don't want your information to be traced, especially if you refuse cookies. If you only need a prescription or two, it's also nice to have the option to just have a single coupon instead of an extra card in your wallet.
WellRx by ScriptSave
WellRx is another option for those looking to fill prescriptions on a budget. While it's another offering that doesn't offer a hard copy card, it still offers excellent pricing discounts on some popular drugs.
Pros:
- Their pricing basket tool gives users the ability to price compare at different pharmacies nearby.
- Users are able to access discounts immediately by printing, texting, or downloading the card to your phone.
- 65,000 in-network pharmacies make it easy to know where you can get your discount.
Cons:
- The lack of an option to order a hard, wallet-friendly card makes it an unappealing choice for seniors or those who struggle with technology.
- Their website is comprehensive, but they don't have a mobile app.
- There are no options to upgrade your care or access telehealth.
RxSaver
A plan with plenty of tools and a great selection of offerings, RxSaver can help you access both information and savings. Their website is full of information, featuring blog topics on how to access the best prices, how to get a prescription online from a doctor, and more. One specifically standout feature of this discount card company is their pill ID tool, which makes it easy for users to make sense of any pills they may have lost the bottles to.
Pros:
- Their app offers a price comparison tool to allow users to find the cheapest price for their drugs near them.
- Users can figure out what pills they may have rolling around between couch cushions with their pill identification tool. Finding medication you misplaced is sort of like finding money, right?
- They offer both an app and a hard-copy card, making this offering something that can work for everyone.
- Their informative blog has many articles to help users be more informed about their costs.
Cons:
- Again, there is no option to upgrade to a bigger plan or access extra care.
Wrapping Up
There are many ways to access affordable prescriptions, even while being uninsured. While using telehealth to get a doctor's prescription online and using a prescription discount card is no substitute for health insurance, both can help fill coverage gaps or help make ends meet during periods where you find yourself uninsured.
Every discount prescription card has pros and cons, and it's important to review all of these options when deciding which card is right for you and your loved ones. Is access to telehealth more important, or a simple card for ease of use? Do you need fancy app add-ins, or is a streamlined approach better? Regardless of which card you choose, you can sleep easy knowing that you've gotten major savings on one of America's top costs.
WARNING: Limitations of Online Doctor/Medical Consultations and Online Prescriptions, QuickRxRefills Cannot and Will NOT Prescribe, Dispense, or Resell any and all medications Narcotics/Controlled Substances (this policy is fully enforced by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)) for Anti-depressants, Pain, Anxiety, Weightloss, Sleep, ADHD/ADD, Anabolic Steroids, Testosterone Replacement Therapy and any and all Medications that contain GabaPentin or Pseudroephedrine including non-controlled substances or any medications that are considered controversial, Off Labeled (Growth Hormone aka HGH) or recalled in nature such (i.e. Retin-A, Accutane). Furthermore, QuickRxRefills is not a substitute for an office based physician in your location nor is it a substitute for Emergency Medical Care or 911. If you do experience a "true" medical emergency your are encouraged to pick up the phone and dial 911 as soon as possible.
