Donna - once again you have kept an eye out for all of us in saving and getting the most out of a buck.  There are various pharmacutical (sp) companies that also give free or reduced medicines for those who meet a certain financial criteria.

I am blessed to have health insurance through work and can send prescriptions to a mail order facility.  One medication my husband takes would cost us $600 for 30 pills, whereby this company sells us the exact same medicine for $35 for 90 pills!

This is also the time when you can go to your employers and sign up to have some of your paycheck go towards medical expenses your family may have during the year.  (For the life of me I can't remember the name of the program - I suffer from middle age brainless syndrome) That money is taken out before state and federal income taxes so you pay less in tax.

One thing that really griped me was when the lawmakers passed the Medicare Part D insurance plan a couple of years ago.  As soon as that became law, I saw my precriptions go up 10%!  

Donna - you're the best!

I never take meds for anything but I remember being swamped by hundreds of dollars of prescription bills every month when my dad was sick. It was so ridiculous, on top of hospital bills and everything! You post just reminded me of "Sicko" that I watched the other night. I can't forget the look on those people's faces when their expensive drugs were dirt cheap in Cuba. I'll keep your advice in mind if I ever need to get my hands on any drugs...and I strongly say IF out of the hopes that I won't have to.

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that plan you're referring to is the Health Flexible Spending Account.

My mom gets her prescriptions at Costco...also glasses...what she saves more than makes up for the membership fee.  She doesn't drive but there's a bus from the Senior Centerthat picks her up and drops her off...she calls them for a ride when she is ready to leave.  And if the particular store doesn't carry your medicine--call your doc and see if there is an acceptable sub...especially if it is common maintenance meds like thyroid or blood pressure or antibiotics.

You need to be careful about the Flexible Spending accounts.. call the company and ask LOTS of questions about what they cover and what they don't.  I got shafted one year because I was told I could use it for Weight Watcher dues---however my claim got denied because they would only pay if it was for obesity ( I wasn't but still chunkier than I should have been), cholesterol or blood pressure problems (mine were normal).  And these accounts are use or lose each year....I lost almost $500.  Now I put money aside for these expenses and the tax break is not that big of a deal.  I also used it one year for my LASIK surgery--there were some things it paid for and other things it didn't.  --like it paid for the surgery but not the initial consult or follow-up checkups.  Be careful.

I use WalMart's $4 deal for thyroid medication.  It's often warned about on health sites to avoid generic levothyroxine because of the shifts in potency between generics and the tendency for pharmacies to switch brands on you (it's consistency that's key).  I've been very pleased that because WalMart is so large they seem to have worked out deals with the same generics suppliers so you get the same one month to month.

That said, I've recently become a Costco member and really like shopping there.  So I'm thinking about switching.  The other two medications I take aren't covered under the $4 deal so I think I'd save money and trips overall.

The idea behind the free (Schnuck's) or low cost generics (i.e. $4/$10 drugs) is to get you to bring your more expensive prescriptions to that pharmacy as well, and they will profit on you despite the loss leader.  In our "free market" pharmacies are surprisingly reluctant to share pricing information.  Costco.com and drugstore.com do allow you to compare some prices, though.  If you don't need the prescription immediately, make some calls to area pharmacies, or check out mail-order services.  It will probably pay off to use different pharmacies for your different meds.  You lose the convenience factor, but you gain considerable savings.  Costco and Sam's are generally cheapest, followed by WalMart.  Target, Schnuck's and Kroger are on par.  Rite Aid and Walgreens are quite price-y.  The most expensive tends to be small independent pharmacies.  

Anyone can buy prescrptions at Costco...you do not have to be a member.  

I have high blood pressure, and when I was originally given a prescription for medication I was given a name brand.  Shocked by the sticker price (my insurance does not cover prescriptions) I asked the pharmacist if a generic was available, and she told me about the $4/$10 program.  I called the doctor to have him authorize the generic, and he told me he didn't want to authorize because he thought that having to take the generic twice daily vs. once daily for the name brand was "inconvienent."  I told him I'd take two pills a day for $4 a month!  I saved a bunch of money, and I went out and found a new doctor.  

I know these drugs are a great deal, but one thing everyone should know is Kmart started the whole thing.  They had 90 day supply of all these meds for $15 at least 6-9 months before WMT caught on.  It may have even been longer than that.  WMT had to try to figure out something to try and beat Kmart.  I know there are not many kmart's left, but the customer service is far better at the kmart I go to than any other pharmacy in town.

Thanks for telling us about this.  Great post!!