I have been buying my prescription drugs from Walgreen for years. Today I decided to do a price comparison to Costco. The three prescriptions that I take cost me out of pocket (copay) $85.72 at Walgreen's and only $33.01 at Costco a savings of $52.71. I was shocked. Never again Walgreen's. The best part about Costco is you don't have to be a member to use their pharmacy. One of my prescriptions at Costco is cheaper at full price than Walgreen's with my copay and I have very good insurance.

Wal-Mart has so far been the most affordable for me but now I Have to look at Costco...

Depends.  One of my meds costs about $75 to $100 at Costco, depending on the manufacturer they carry in stock at the time.  At Walgreens I get the same medication for about $45 with a "GoodRX" coupon.

In other cases Costco was the way to go.  My point is to shop around for each med.

If your paying cash for prescriptions try using goodrx.com. With goodrx I usually pay about half of what I would normally be charged.

To give you one example one of my prescriptions is Diltiazem xr 240mg. Walgreen's price is $278.00(without copay) for 6 months supply. Costco for the same med is $90.00 (without copay) for 6 month supply.

I have never done Walgreens but I did take my Blood Pressure script to CVS once for a monthly fill.  $30 f**king for a 30 day supply.

Told them to return to the shelf and went to Krogers for a $4 monthly fill.

I get mine off-shore.  



To explain:  I order from a US company.  They place order in Germany who then ships them to India, who then sends them to me.  Even after all this, the meds are way cheaper with no insurance than buying them here with insurance.



Hint:  Company is in Washington state.



Carry on.

I only have one, but I buy 100% out of pocket at walmart because it's cheaper than my script with really good insurance at Walgreens. My insurance only covers 30 days at a time so I get a 90 day at Walmart.

A friend just bought some in Mexico that cost them 3.50. Same brand and dose cost him 45.00 here after insurance.

Walgreen's, CVS, "insert big chain pharmacy here" are all insanely expensive and usually offer shitty service.

Costco. Walmart, Publix, Kroger are all good options. Sometimes they'll take a hit on scripts to get you in the store.

The best price I've found is a local, non-chain pharmacy. They have the best customer service and their prices can't be beat.

US consumers subsidize the price of pharmaceuticals for much of the rest of the world.

very true, also look for a online Pharmacy out of Kentucky as their direct 90 day prices were less then my 30 day copay, with our insurance at work I could have bought them and been reimbursed ,sorry I didn't keep their info as work set up a clinic and now provides meds with no copayment

I once paid $80 for a prescription at CVS that I got refilled at Walmart a few weeks later for $4.

There's making a profit and then there's rape.

Walmart was likely taking a loss on that four dollar prescription.

Depending on who your Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) is; most likely one of these guys (Express Scripts, CVS/Caremark, Prime, Catamaran, OptumRx, MedImpact) and the contract rates your company, TPA, etc has negotiated with the PBM will dictate how much your drug costs you if you have co-share aka percentage copays.

All of you have a PBM that manages your pharmacy side of your health benefits whether you know it or not and for 80% of you it's one the 6 I listed above.  

So keep the following in mind
1. each drug will have a different cost at each retail pharmacy such as Walgreens, Walmart, CVS, CostCo, etc. Additionally not only will the drug name have a different cost, it can be different by the mg of the drug.  And....... the price can go up and down each month if based on MFG costs and PBM to pharmacy re-contracting.  Fun huh?

So what can you do as the consumer
1. Have the retail pharmacy run a test claim before they fill the drug for you. They take said drug and run it against your benefit design / contracted rates and this gives you your cost.  Some will do this over the phone others only in person.
2. Call your PBM (Not your medical vendor, BCBS etc) and ask them to run estimate costs as they can get damn close and do a lot of the leg work for you.
3. Research your benefit design as using the 90 mail order option almost always gets you 90 days supply for the cost of 60 days and almost always has a better contracted rate as the most of the time the PBM is the mail order filling pharmacy, get it?  And you always wondered why Express Scripts and Walgreens were doing battle.  It's all about those dolla billz yall!

So there ya go, hope this helps

<----- builds PBM adjudication systems and functionality for the top PBMs

We aren't talking viagra are we ?

lol walgreens

Yeah LOL. Fuck Walgreens



 

Our insurance plan decides where we fill our scripts.

I know a guy...

I'm luck I can go any where I like.

This.  Tricare.   Must use ExpressScripts for reoccurring scripts or they will not cover.  Actually a pretty good deal except they are ordered online and are mailed.  Just have to make sure reorder is done in enough time so you don't run out unless auto refill is setup.

 

... Learn something new on ARFCOM everyday! Thanks

$7.00 for my bp med at Wally World with co pay.

AllDayChemist is an offshore pharmacy that has very low prices.  If you order, make certain that you follow all applicable laws.  

I worked in pharma for years so have an idea where ever dollar is made in the cycle.  NEVER fill an RX at a store that is pharmacy first (Fay's, CVS, Walgreen's, etc).  Their pharmacists are paid based on fucking you.  I got ejected from a Walgreen's once for telling and old lady that the $45 copay for a steroid pack was 4x the cash price.  She should just pay cash outside of her insurance.  The manager, pharmacist, and security all swarmed me demanding why I shared information with this poor senior.  The uproar was awesome with the other customers.  They asked me to leave and I did.  

Costco, walmart, BJ's, Sam's all cherry pick certain meds to cut rate/mark up based on the demographics of their given geo region.  You DON'T need to be a member to use their pharmacy.  Price shop around.  When I joined costco & sam's they both gave me a cash listing of common drugs that they sold.  Going through your insurance is not always the best cost either.  You can still use your FSA/HSA dollars for the RX even though you don't run it through your insurance.


Keep in mind that health insurance is like vegas.  They have run the numbers (you are a number) and your premiums, plus deductables, copays, etc just cover your annual costs plus about 10% profit to them.  NEVER elect to put off anything unless you don't trust the diagnosis/eval - then go get a second opinion.  By putting things off you risk evolution of a progressive ailment that may not be as easily managed and they'll jack your premiums/limit your coverage so not to get stuck with the added costs  Pay now for the best deal.  Doubt me?  Ask a cancer/diabetes patient how open enrollment went after their diagnosis.  Prices look a tad higher, even with "o-care's" no pre-existing conditions.  You can get coverage, you're just ass-raped on price.  


And it you're ever in the hospital...look left and right as you sit in the ER for eval.  If you're gainfully employed and intend to pay your copay, say "you're welcome" to those to your left and right.  Then ask yourself why hospitals go bankrupt in sanctuary cities and lib controlled cities.  They don't have the positive income minimum of 25% of the population to keep them afloat.  


On the bright side - Monday Night Football is on......

They're not taking a $76 loss.

Kroger here is faster, cheaper, friendlier...and right next to Walgreens.

And they usually have 12 hour generic sudafed in stock.

Op

Have you ever tried to get a three month supply by mail?

My insurance uses CVS and I can get a three month supply for one co-pay.

I feel like a "crack ho" every time I buy Sudafed.  Have to show my ID, get put in some type of database, have to sign my life away...



 

what med do you take?



 

No,I have not. Because of my job I need to get a 6 month supply before I go to work





 

PSA: Download the "GoodRX" app.

 
Yup.


We cover the R&D and the majority of the profit margins.

90 was on the generic list but 180 was not.

I'm not going to sweat it. With my copay for the 6 month supply came out to less than 20 bucks from Costco. I can live with that.



 

Its expensive to be on the corner of happy and healthy.

Some Rx are cheaper paying cash than using insurance.

Wal Greens is a rip off.  I've had a similar experience with them.  

I just ran all my scrips through the goodrx.com website, and just walking up to my local CVS is cheaper with my insurance on all but 2 of my drugs.  One is only 3 bucks cheaper, so not worth my time to split out just that one.  But my 10ml test cyp vial could be $45 cheaper with the free coupon the site prints; I'll try that again in a couple of months when I refill again.

There's just so much voodoo going on with the price of healthcare right now, and everyone is playing games before the Good Ole Gobmint(tm) fixes prices for everyone.

Walgreens and CVS are the two most expensive pharmacies

Walmart has a rather decent selection of prescription drugs available for $4 a script.  I don't know what their prices are like on drugs off that list though.  Definitely worth comparing.

The pharmacy line at my Costco is quite lengthy.  Cigna mails my drugs to my house.  2 for 1 copay too.

Depends on the time of day.



 

I miss the days when you could drive to Mexico to a pharmacia without risking your face getting sewn into a soccer ball.

When you say $4 script, is that 30 day supply?



 

This is of interest to me!

BigDozer66

I already knew a lot of this but there is something I didn't that might help!

Thanks for the post!

BigDozer66

Yep, $4 for 30, $10 for 90.  Check the list here.

ETA- your BP drug isn't on there but there are some similar.  If it's going to save you that kind of loot it might be worth talking to your doctor to see if you could be using a $4 med instead of a $50 med.  I fix printers and know nothing of note about medicine but I've had my doctor modify prescriptions for reasons of cost.  He might have a reason to prefer one med over another though and I'd respect his opinion if he thought the pricier one was a better fit.

Long time pharmacist at CVS, and now working for an independent. CVS is A LOT higher cash price than just about anywhere. Walgreens is about what and what with CVS.  Walgreens has a discounted list and so does CVS that you can buy into. Walmart has their discounted list, but those drugs are all dirt cheap anyway.  The independents can set their price, and for the most part on all maintenance meds, we are cheaper than the big chains. Some meds I recently changed the price to beat about everyone, like a certain weight loss med that runs 38 bucks at CVS, I dropped out price to 12 bucks last week.

 
Yeah, a PM with details would be wonderful.