Action News is helping you save on prescription medication. In many cases, ordering online or from your local pharmacy is cheaper when you don’t use insurance.
But there are a growing number of cash options, as well.
The newest development in the pharmacy wars is Amazon expanding its RXPass program to include Medicare beneficiaries.
The program offers 60+ medications for a one-flat fee of $5 a month total. But before you sign up, there are things to consider.
“A Medicare beneficiary with a Prime membership using RXPass can save anywhere from $70 to $120 on a single medication,” read an Amazon pharmacy ad.
Experts caution the list is limited and it isn’t advisable to use multiple pharmacies at once.
“You are really best benefited by having a single pharmacist who you can speak to face to face and who has a relationship with your doctors to really help you with your medication,” said Lisa Gill of Consumer Reports.
And be aware that to use RXPass, you must be a Prime member. The cost is $14.99 a month or $139 annually.
You cannot use an HSA or FSA to pay your subscription fee.
Consumer Reports advises when looking to save on prescriptions, start your search on GoodRx, which is a discount aggregator.
“They are experts at generating coupons that you can use at your local pharmacy without insurance to help you get like that really rock bottom discount,” Gill said.
The Troubleshooters checked prices, without using insurance, for a 30-day supply of 5-milligram tablets of amlodipine, a common blood pressure medicine.
Amlodipine is included with Amazon RxPass or you can get it on Amazon for $8.90 a month outside of RXPass.
Compare that to what we found on GoodRX. Even with coupons the price is more than double at CVS and Target at $19.95 at both pharmacies.
- Walgreens – $17.31
- Rite Aid – $10.16
- ShopRite – $7.24
- Costco – $7.99
“A lot of neighborhood pharmacies like Mom and Pop pharmacies will often match or beat any of those crazy low prices that you find online,” said Gill.
One of the lowest prices in our test is, in fact, offered by independent Parkway Pharmacy in Center City Philadelphia at $5 a month and that’s without asking about price matching.
The absolute cheapest price we found was offered by Scriptco at just 30 cents for a one-month supply plus free shipping.
However, you do have to pay for a Scriptco membership.
You really have to plug in all the numbers to see which is the best plan for you and whether or not it makes sense to use insurance.
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