Prescription Drugs

[Sundance]

To see what the mark-up on prescription drugs are, go to: Prescription Drugs

[Im-n-a-whirl]

This is insanity. There are a lot of us out there who have no medical insurance and to add to the cost of health care like this is larceny.

No one should have to choose between paying their utilities or paying $300-$400 a pop for medication to help them breathe - and yet, that is exactly what has happened to me.

[DevotedToAMC]

Prescription drug costs are through the roof these days and it stinks. I wish the government could do more to regulate the prices so these drug companies do not come off filthy rich.

I do have medical insurance but am not sure as to how much they cover on prescriptions...my other plan through HealthNet did very well with covering the drugs but now I have a subsidized company through Blue Cross Blue Shield.

I pray that we see the costs of drugs come down so people are not paying an arm and a leg

[EricaKane70]

This is total fraud.

[rxcats]

The reality is that pharmacies are located in the back of the store (Walgreens, CVS, etc.) so that you will (hopefully) buy something else while you are there. If they relied only on their drugs sales, they wouldn't make it. It is true that the mark up is much higher on some of the generics. Some of the brand name drugs actually loose money for the pharmacy. I have rarely ever worked retail, but some years ago, I worked at a hospital that had a small outpatient pharmacy open to the public. I always had to make sure that we would at least break even on many of the brand name prescriptions. Most people had insurance that paid of only a fraction of the "retail" price. It was usually something like AWP (average wholesale price) -15% plus copay; sometimes this totaled significantly less than we actually paid for the drug. I am sure that other pharmacist/pharmacy technicians on this board can vouch for this.

[Sundance]

Its the drug companies, not the pharmacies that are making the big profits!

[stenbeck212]

Nothing opened my eyes to this like the scene in Sicko when a woman got inhalers for mere pennies, while she was in a constant dilemma over whether to go broke buying them in America.

[rxcats]

Walmart has a number of medications on a their $4.00 formulary. You get 30 tablets (30 days) of various different mediations for only $4.00. There is no restriction on age or salary; everyone is eligible. My parents (and myself) are all on Lipitor. I am having my parents' physicians change their Lipitor to pravastatin, which is a very similar drug, so they can get it for $4.00 a month. My mom also takes blood pressure medication; she is taking an ACE inhibitor along with a thiazide diuretic. Walmart has a generic combination medication containing lisinopril and HCTZ for $4.00/month. She can also get her levothyroxine (generic Synthroid/Levothroid)) for $4.00/month. Anyone that does not have drug coverage should look into this. Even if the medications you take are not on the $4.00/month formulary, something very similar/same class may be. There are a lot of "me too" drugs that easily interchangeable and can be substituted with your physician's approval.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=546834

[rxcats]

It was brought to my attention, on another message board, that Target is also offering $4.00 prescriptions. There is no way these pharmacies are making any money on this, but I guess they expect you will pick up some toilet paper or tampons when you drop in to pick up your drugs. That is probably the reason that the big stores like Walmart and Target can do this. They sell lots of other stuff and the pharmacy is just a way of getting you into their stores. No matter the reason, this is certainly good news for people in this county (USA) that are struggling with prescription drugs costs.