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| How to Save Money on Prescriptions |
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As the cost of prescription drugs continues to increase, you can take several steps to ensure your dollars are well spent:
Check if your plan offers a co-pay incentive to use mail order. Mail order pharmacy is a safe, practical and convenient option for those who take maintenance drugs for chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Mail order pharmacies are able to obtain volume purchasing discounts that often result in savings being passed on to members.
By using mail order, your doctor may be able to write your prescription in a way that best takes advantage of your plan's co-pay structure. For example, at a retail drug store your doctor may only be able to prescribe a 30-day pill supply for a $30 co-pay. At mail order, the doctor may be able to prescribe a 90-day pill supply for the same $30 co-pay, saving you $60 per fill. Again, availability of this type of co-pay efficiency depends on your group's plan design. Please consult the member portal or customer service to find out more.
Serve You Custom Prescription Management owns and operates its own mail order pharmacy, Direct Rx. To learn more about Direct Rx's mail services or to learn how to place an order, click here.
Ask about generic alternatives. Generic drugs are equivalent to their brand-name counterparts and the same therapeutic benefit should be expected with the use of a generic but at a lower cost. One reason generics cost less than brands is because generic manufacturers don't have the upfront research and development expense that the brand manufacturers must spend to get a drug to market.
"Just because generics are of a lower cost or may be a different color or size doesn't mean that they are any less effective than their brand drug equivalent," explains Ted Boylan, PharmD, a clinical pharmacist and Clinical Program Manager at Serve You Custom Prescription Management. In fact, according to a consumer update posted on the FDA web site in early October 2007 announcing its Generic Initiative for Value and Efficiency (GIVE), the standards of quality are the same for both brand name and generic drugs1:
„X Generic drug applications undergo a rigorous review by FDA before they can be approved.
„X A generic drug must also be the same dosage, and have the same route of administration and conditions of use, as its brand-name drug.
„X A company that markets a generic drug must show that the product delivers the same amount of its active ingredient, over the same amount of time, as the brand-name product.
„X Generic products are used in more than 50% of all prescription drug purchases in the United States.
Certainly not all brand-name drugs have a generic equivalent. But when there is, the savings can be considerable. When being prescribed a medication, talk with your doctor and ask about available generic alternatives.
Shop around. Once you have your prescription in-hand, shop around for the best price. Serve You's "What's My Co-Pay" search element on its web site Member Portal gives you the opportunity to shop around various pharmacies in your area to see who offers the lowest price or co-pay.
1 U.S. Drug and Food Administration, Consumer Update, New Initiative to Improve Availability of Generics, http://www.fda.gov/consumer/updates/generics100407.html
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