Sure, these coupons can save you a few bucks a month – maybe even fifty, if you’re conscientious about it. But what if you could save $50 with a single coupon?
Now that makes sense, and takes much less time. I’m talking about coupons toward out-of-pocket expenses for medications, both prescription and over-the-counter. Even healthy people with good insurance should consider looking for coupons on medications they take only occasionally, such as eye drops for allergy eyes.
People on chronic medications for diabetes, high cholesterol, arthritis, heart disease, high blood pressure, asthma, COPD, allergies, and a multitude of other conditions should take advantage of coupons to offset their co-pay toward (or total cost of) prescription drugs.
Over the past decade co-pays on medications have increased in order to encourage patients and physicians to use lower-priced alternatives. The pharmaceutical companies devised an opposing strategy whereby they increased the price of their medications but then offered coupons to offset the increase in price. This decreases the out-of-pocket expense for insured patients, who like these coupons because brand-name medications suddenly become more affordable, on a par with generic medications.
How does a person go about finding coupons for medications?
First, your doctor or pharmacist may have a coupon for a brand name medication – so don’t forget to ask (and sometimes their coupons are better discounts than what you can find online).
Next, search online by going to www.{insert-drug-name-here}.com. Many brand name drugs have websites you can find in less than a minute. If you don’t find a medication using this strategy, search for the manufacturer’s website. When you reach the correct website, look for special offers, patient information, free trials, etc. For expensive medications these coupons could save you as much as $55 a month toward a specific drug.
If you don’t have insurance, search the pharmaceutical websites for patient assistance programs, which are based on your annual income. The guidelines for free or reduced cost medications may be more liberal than you’d expect. Instead of saving $10 or $20 on your medication you may save $100 or $200 – or even $1000 or $2000!
Over-the-counter medications offer online coupons as well, generally for a few dollars off. Since these drugs are inexpensive to start with, the savings will not be as much as on prescription medications. Still, if it’s worth the price of a hamburger and fries to you, check online before going to the store for cold medicine or an upset stomach.
Online coupons are also available from chain pharmacies and the major discount stores. Find their website, go to the pharmacy link, then look for offers for new and transferred prescriptions. You may find that transferring a $5 prescription from one pharmacy to another nets you $20 toward your medication or store merchandise.
Cynthia J. Koelker MD is a family physician of over twenty years, and holds degrees from MIT, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and the University of Akron. She is the author of “101 Ways to Save Money on Healthcare.”
For more free tips on how to save money on health care
read Dr. Koelker’s blog at: http://101waystosavemoneyonhealthcare.blogspot.com/
