Good Rx?

[Zonny]

So, I just ran my maintenance meds through the Good Rx app. What I paid over $200 @ last refill for, will cost me approx $68 using the app and NOT using my insurance. This at the same pharmacy I always use. How can this be? What is this game they play between the insurance companies and the pharmaceuticals? 

 

[Zonny]

Anyone else priced their meds through one of the discount apps available?

 

[Moshe]

I carry Blue Cross/Blue Shield and the Family Plan is about 600.00 a month.  At the end of the year I am supposed to be able to augment with Medicare Part Whatever it is.  I guess when that kicks in the price of medication will go down.

[Zonny]

My Insurance provider is BC/BS also. Yet, Good Rx allows me a 75% discount over the insurance price????

[janice6]

1 hour ago, Zonny said:

Anyone else priced their meds through one of the discount apps available?

 

I was prescribed an eye medication that the Doctor said would cost about $25 for three months supply.  My insurance price at the Drug Store was around $90.  I told them to stuff it.

I then went to various Drug Stores (not the same chain) and priced it.  One store Pharmacist told me they couldn't give me an insurance price since every insurance company prices each medication on their own scale which has nothing to do with the cost of the medication.  Nothing at all!  It was totally arbitrary and dependent on the insurance company, not the drug cost.

I then asked what the price would be if I simply paid it all out of my own pocket and was quoted around $50.  

I went back to the Doctor and told him I wasn't taking the medication due to the discrepancy between his estimate (which he got via some medical sources).  He then gave me a script for the equivalent medication in generic form.

My original pharmacy price quote based on the same original insurance company coverage was $21 for a three month supply.

[Zonny]

It's crazy. How does any of this make sense?

[janice6]

5 minutes ago, Zonny said:

It's crazy. How does any of this make sense?

You're right!  It is crazy and that's why it doesn't make sense to you and me.  To some accountant, I'm sure it makes perfect sense.  Charge high prices for cheap medications, sounds like a money maker with price dependent on how much you want to make.

[NPTim]

1 hour ago, Zonny said:

Anyone else priced their meds through one of the discount apps available?

 

My mom was paying $250 for one of her medications. I heard this and stopped the transaction and asked them to run it through Good Rx. She saved $200 this way.

 

I will defer to my esteemed colleague, PicardMD, for a a more cogent explanation as to the intricacies of the drug game. 

[railfancwb]

You're right!  It is crazy and that's why it doesn't make sense to you and me.  To some accountant, I'm sure it makes perfect sense.  Charge high prices for cheap medications, sounds like a money maker with price dependent on how much you want to make.

Been several high profile situations recently where a drug manufacturer was taken over and immediately prices jumped drastically.


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[DrB]

I am lucky as any normal maintenance medications are at no cost with my insurance from work.  Don't know how they worked that out but I'm not complaining.  I dread the day when I have to start paying though..

Dave..

[Rinspeed]

I've been using Good Rx for a couple years and I'm not really sure how they make it work but it can save you a bunch of money.

Edited June 3, 2019 by Rinspeed

[G19Tony]

7 hours ago, Zonny said:

So, I just ran my maintenance meds through the Good Rx app. What I paid over $200 @ last refill for, will cost me approx $68 using the app and NOT using my insurance. This at the same pharmacy I always use. How can this be? What is this game they play between the insurance companies and the pharmaceuticals? 

 

Thanks Kathy. I'm going to call Mom tomorrow and have her do that for one of her meds that are pretty spendy. 

[NPTim]

Sometimes GoodRx hasn’t worked for my patients. I check while I’m still talking to them if I’m writing a new medication for them.

[pipedreams]

On top of all this pricing nonsense, most of all our meds come from China, Scary!

"The last U.S. plant manufacturing the penicillin antibiotic closed in 2004."

https://www.foxnews.com/us/america-dependent-china-medicines

 

"Experts are warning America has become too dependent on China for its medicine -- everything from painkillers, to antibiotics, and even aspirin can all be sourced back to a country the Department of Defense considers an adversary.

The Food and Drug Administration estimates that at least 80 percent of the active ingredients found in all of America's medicines come from abroad – primarily China.

"Imagine if China turned off that spigot," said Rosemary Gibson, author of "China RX: The Risks of America's Dependence on China for Medicine." "China's aim is to become the global pharmacy to the world -- it says that. It wants to disrupt, to dominate, and displace American and other Western companies.""

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by pipedreams

[Wishoot]

The Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) business is the biggest shell-game in the health insurance business.  I've been in the health insurance business for 30 years and I'm still amazed that these crooks aren't in prison.  

[gwalchmai]

So how does it work?

[Moshe]

1 hour ago, pipedreams said:

On top of all this pricing nonsense, most of all our meds come from China, Scary!

"The last U.S. plant manufacturing the penicillin antibiotic closed in 2004."

https://www.foxnews.com/us/america-dependent-china-medicines

 

"Experts are warning America has become too dependent on China for its medicine -- everything from painkillers, to antibiotics, and even aspirin can all be sourced back to a country the Department of Defense considers an adversary.

The Food and Drug Administration estimates that at least 80 percent of the active ingredients found in all of America's medicines come from abroad – primarily China.

"Imagine if China turned off that spigot," said Rosemary Gibson, author of "China RX: The Risks of America's Dependence on China for Medicine." "China's aim is to become the global pharmacy to the world -- it says that. It wants to disrupt, to dominate, and displace American and other Western companies.""

 

All medications have side effects.  But, unfortunately, many of us are stuck using them.  Sometimes better living through pharmacology, sometimes not.  However, there really isn't any other alternative.  

[tadbart]

Wow. I use GoodRx for people at work, to point them in the direction of the cheapest meds, but haven't bothered to use it for myself. After reading these experiences, I have some research to do.

I don't take a lot of meds, just that cancer-causing Losartan, impotence-inducing Toprol, and a vitamin. Doc wants to see me, after I go get my blood drawn. I'm a bit scared of what my A1c, AST, and triglycerides are gonna be this time. Stress-eating and drinking is gonna be my excuse, this time! May add a statin and that $4 Walmart Metformin to my pillbox. 

[Zonny]

1 hour ago, gwalchmai said:

So how does it work?

How does the app work? You simply 'search' for your meds (to include dosage and quantity). It will give you a price list of Pharmacies near you. You pick a  pharmacy and 'add a coupon' to your "My Rx" list. I chose all three meds at same pharmacy even though I could have saved a little more getting one med elsewhere. 

You simply present your coupon 'list' to the pharmacy when you pay for your meds.

Here's the cost difference for me based on last refill:

1. $51.64 vs $15.67
2. $90.33 vs $25.04
3. $114.49 vs $45.04  

Again, this is the same pharmacy I have always used.

Edited to add: I just realized I had picked the wrong med for number 2. Still, HUGE savings.

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by Zonny

[gwalchmai]

1 hour ago, Zonny said:

How does the app work? You simply 'search' for your meds (to include dosage and quantity). It will give you a price list of Pharmacies near you. You pick a  pharmacy and 'add a coupon' to your "My Rx" list. I chose all three meds at same pharmacy even though I could have saved a little more getting one med elsewhere. 

You simply present your coupon 'list' to the pharmacy when you pay for your meds.

Here's the cost difference for me based on last refill:

1. $51.64 vs $15.67
2. $90.33 vs $25.04
3. $114.49 vs $45.04  

Again, this is the same pharmacy I have always used.

Edited to add: I just realized I had picked the wrong med for number 2. Still, HUGE savings.

 

Oh, OK. I have the app and it came up with some coupons. I'll show the pharmacist.

 

[Zonny]

11 minutes ago, gwalchmai said:

Oh, OK. I have the app and it came up with some coupons. I'll show the pharmacist.

 

Curious, what will your savings be?

 

[Vegas Eggus]

So I checked a couple of mine. Some savings but at different pharmacies. Can the rx get transferred between them by the pharmacies or does the Dr. have to resend it?I

Mine went from $15 to $6 on one and $20 to $12 on another. 

 

Edited June 3, 2019 by Vegas Eggus

[G19Tony]

On 6/2/2019 at 6:23 AM, Zonny said:

How does the app work? You simply 'search' for your meds (to include dosage and quantity). It will give you a price list of Pharmacies near you. You pick a  pharmacy and 'add a coupon' to your "My Rx" list. I chose all three meds at same pharmacy even though I could have saved a little more getting one med elsewhere. 

You simply present your coupon 'list' to the pharmacy when you pay for your meds.

Here's the cost difference for me based on last refill:

1. $51.64 vs $15.67
2. $90.33 vs $25.04
3. $114.49 vs $45.04  

Again, this is the same pharmacy I have always used.

Edited to add: I just realized I had picked the wrong med for number 2. Still, HUGE savings.

 

I talked to Mom. She already has Good Rx. She's ahead of the curve!

 

[SarahMcGlocklan]

On 6/1/2019 at 5:51 PM, Zonny said:

My Insurance provider is BC/BS also. Yet, Good Rx allows me a 75% discount over the insurance price????

I just found out one of my meds is 10 with my insurance and 5 without it 

[Zonny]

It worked!! Same price the app quoted. 

 

 

 

Edited June 4, 2019 by Zonny