I recently read an article in the New York Times that gave some great information on how to save on pharmaceuticals which have been skyrocketing. You can read the full article here http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/health/06patient.html?_r=1&ref=health.
With the economy weak and vulnerable, there are a few things we can do to insure that our pockets will not be empty and our health deteriorate due to the rising costs of medications.
The article clearly explains several options that we, as consumers, try to do to save some cash on the necessary medication.
1)Ask your doctor about less costly options.
2)Compare costs at retail outlets
3)If your drugs bills are high and your funds are low. Contact the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, (888-477-2669), a nonprofit organization run by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. The partnership helps uninsured or low-income consumers get access to 475 public and private prescription assistance programs.
Are you doing anything to save on your prescriptions? Let us know how.
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If your medication is in tablet form (not capsule), it is often possible to save money by having the doctor prescribe a higher dosage and have the pills cut in half.
If, for instance, 25 mg of something is $25 for 30 pills, but 50 mg of the same medicine is $40 for 30 pills, by buying the larger dosage you're actually getting 60 days' dosage of that medicine and saving $15 a month while doing so.
Some pharmacists will split the pills for you, but there are also small pill-splitters you can buy (usually somewhere around the pharmacy department) that make easy work of it.
It's important to ask your doctor about each specific medicine. Time-release medicines won't work this way, for instance, because by cutting into them you would cut whatever coating makes it possible for part of the pill to be released into your system at a later time.
Here's a Washington Post story on pill-splitting:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/18/AR2007061800400.html
February 9, 2009 - 10:00amThis Comment
Thanks for the information Susan. With prescription prices rising, sharing this information is certainly informative. Anywhere we can save certainly is priceless.
February 8, 2009 - 4:54pmThis Comment