Over the last couple of years, I have noticed a steep increase in my family's medical bills and our prescription medications. Our insurance has changed a couple of times and we now pay 100 percent of our prescriptions. It seems like so many families that I talk to have had the same problems.
To try to keep costs down I have had to get creative with some ways that we save on our prescriptions. Some of the ways save just a few dollars and some can save your lots of money. If you are trying to lower your bills, check out these 5 ways to save on prescriptions.
Use Rewards Programs
I think this is one of the easiest ways to save. So many different stores have a rewards program for filling or refilling a prescription. I use Meijer, because their prescription prices are low and they have a good rewards program. I often get coupons for $20 off groceries when I fill a prescription. Plus, I get an additional $10 off groceries for every 5 prescriptions that I have filled with the Meijer Pharmacy Rewards. To use a coupon or sign into my mperks account only takes a few seconds and can save me money. To save some extra money on prescriptions check to see if your pharmacy has a rewards program.
Mail Order Prescriptions
If you use the same prescription month after month you could possibly save with a mail order prescription. I have used mail order prescriptions for my thyroid medications and I love it. I can get 3-6 months worth or medication mailed to my door and I save around 15% over what I pay at the pharmacy. To find a good deal with mail order prescriptions I recommend checking with your insurance company.
Use Coupons
Some of the name brand medications offer coupons to save money. I have signed up to receive monthly coupons emailed to me from some of our prescriptions. You can also use a coupon like you get from GoodRX. You can just go to GoodRx, put in what medication you would like to have filled and it will give you a list of places that are the cheapest and a coupon to print to get the medication at that price.
The one downside to GoodRx is that you won't be able to use your insurance with GoodRx. It is either one or the other. We use our insurance if we think we will hit our deductible that year and GoodRx coupons if we don't think we will make the deductible.
Ask For Samples
A couple of times our pediatrician has offered up some free samples. The doctors often get medications for free and will pass them on to the patients. You can always ask to see if they have free samples. This is a great way to save money.
Use Generic
Generic prescriptions can be an easy way to save some extra money. If you don't already use generics you can talk to your doctor to see if they may work well for you. I have found that in most cases the savings is a lot and most of the prescriptions that I have had filled in generic I don't notice a difference.
With just a little bit of your time you can start saving even more on your prescription medications. What ways do you have of saving on prescriptions?
Lindsey Mozgai says
Generics have saved me so much money! I can't even begin to guess how much we've saved by going generic