Work with Your Doctor to Save
Money on Prescription Drugs
You may be surprised to learn
there are ways to save money on
prescription drugs.
When your doctor gives you a new
prescription, ask if there is a
generic version. Generic drugs
are bio-equivalent to the name
brand drug they mimic, and may
cost a fraction of the price of
the original drug.
Most doctors have free drug
samples to give their patients.
If you have never tried a newly
prescribed drug before, you may
encounter a side effect that is
unacceptable to you in the
longer term. If you can
determine the problem exists
before you’ve used up the
samples, and your doctor
suggests you try a different
drug, you’ll save money by not
filling the original
prescription.
Your health insurance company
may categorize drugs into
categories called tiers. Each
drug is assigned to a tier, and
your co-pay will be based on
your prescription’s tier
assignment. For example, if your
drug is a Tier One drug, then
your co-pay may be $10. A Tier
Two drug may cost you $20 and a
Tier Three drug $30 each time
you fill the prescription.
Further, each drug falls into a
class of drugs. Different drugs
that work the same way for the
same medical problem are in the
same class.
Your doctor will know which
drugs are in the same class, but
may not be familiar with your
insurance company’s tier
designations. When you need a
prescription, ask your doctor
what other drugs in the same
class are acceptable, then talk
to someone in his office who
handles insurance matters to
sort out which of those drugs is
listed in the least expensive
tier.
For example, if you require a
drug for acid reflux, your
doctor might prescribe a drug
from a class called proton pump
inhibitors (PPI). Your insurer
might categorize one PPI called
Prilosec as Tier One. Prevacid,
another PPI, might be a Tier
Two. A third PPI is Nexium,
which could be Tier Three. Since
they all address acid reflux,
you might ask your doctor to
prescribe the Tier One drug. If
it works well for you, it could
save you hundreds of dollars
each year over the cost of the
Tier Three drug.
I’ll offer a few more
prescription drug money-saving
ideas in my next column.
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Trisha Torrey is
Every Patient’s AdvocateTM.
She offers no medical advice,
but empowers
those who
want to learn more about diagnosis and
treatment
options by
providing useful tools
and resources.
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