Consumer Reports ran a piece on America's best drugstores in their June issue. As a test, they looked at the cost of four popular drugs -- Plavix, Levoxyl, Detrol, and alendronate -- and listed various retailers in order of ascending costs. The winners were:
1. Costco
2. AARP.com
3. Wal-mart
4. Walgreens.com
5. CVS.com
6. Independents
7. CVS
8. Safeway
9. Shopko
10. Publix
11. Hannaford
12. Walgreens
13. Rite Aid
The piece also offered some tips for saving on prescriptions drugs including what seemed to be the best tip to me:
Compare prices. Our national study of prices for four common drugs found average total differences of as much as $340, or 26 percent, between the cheapest source and the priciest. Even prices within a chain often differed. Prices also varied greatly from one independent pharmacy to another.
Fortunately, we don't have much need for prescription drugs, so I'm in no way an expert ion the issue. That said, I have posted several other money saving ideas that I've gathered from others including:
My husband takes many drugs for a heart condition. Even though we are covered by health and drug insurance, we shop at Walgreens, joined their Prescription card program and save hundreds of dollars yearly by buying the generics which had already been prescribed through their program and not paying the insurance co-payment. Amazing.
Posted by: Debra | May 16, 2008 at 12:09 PM
What scares me most - weren't expecting this were you?? - there is one big name on this list, who is keeping prices down, by purchasing products that are not approved and selling them to the consumer. A drug that has killed many and was imported from China.
I'm still amazed how the news is hushed in comparison to other things of lessor value.
Posted by: Dedicated | May 16, 2008 at 01:25 PM