Anyone had this experience with buying scripts?

[dixiegrrrrl]

Had to buy some prescription meds yesterday, all generic.
Paid for with what they call a "cash price"...credit card, or cash, or debit card.
In fact, the nice helpful clerk double checked to make sure I got "cash price".
I asked her what was the difference between "cash price" and insurance price.
She says customer with insurance pay more.

That sounds so bass akwards to me....

Thoughts???

[chemp]

1. it's part of the 80/20 rule

Big pharma wants to work hand in hand with big insurance.
Otherwise, their big payday goes away to single payer.

They charge insurance more, insurance spends more of your premium, you do not get a rebate at the end of the years.
Everyone's happy... except the consumer.

[spooky3]

2. Not exactly, but this situation was strange too...

Doctor told me that the prescription she was giving me would likely not be covered by insurance. Said it would be around $150 out of pocket. So I decided I would have to bite the bullet.

I took the script to my usual pharmacy. They initially said it would be $270. I expressed surprise and told them what the doc had told me. Several minutes of looking at their computer later, they said they had a "magic insurance card." No kidding--that is exactly what they said. They wouldn't say more. They then charged me less than $90.

What's going on here?

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. No fixed price, my guess.

It so happens that Mr. Dixie and I had identical prescriptions for something last year.
And happened that he took his in before I got mine in.
Different prices..same script, same # of pills.

[spooky3]

13. probably. What's even weirder is I went online

and found it was a lot cheaper at other places, so they were not giving me a fabulous deal. This is a generic med so it should be cheaper.

[dixiegrrrrl]

18. Totally worth shopping around.

Consumer Reports and other consumer sources have done investigations, listing the same drug and what it would cost at various pharmacies.
the range is phenomenal.

[unblock]

3. i've had a med that cost less before i hit my deductible than after

before i hit my deductible, i have to pay for my meds entirely out of pocket, no insurance.
after i hit my deductible, i only have to pay a co-pay.

except that this one med was about $17 before i hit my deductible, and the co-pay after i hit my deductible -- when insurance kicks in -- was $25.

makes you wonder what the "co-" part is.

anyway, that was up until a couple years ago. the price has since gone up, it's now about $29 before the deductible, so it makes a bit more sense now. but i'm sure there are plenty of other meds for which the above is still true. $25 is the smallest deductible on my plan, and there are plenty of meds that retail for less than that.

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. I have a sweet and rather ..uncomplicated ...85 y/o neighbor

and have taken her to the pharmacy several times.
She would pay less for her meds without using insurance.
But resists that idea.
Her brain tells her....pay my premiums, pay my deductibles, and I don't have to worry about expensive drugs.
But the cheaper drugs are costing her more.

Sad.

[Laffy Kat]

4. It's true with everything medical, including..

Imaging studies, surgeries, ER visits, etc. Two prices: a higher price for the non-insured. That's one reason our system sucks so bad. It will be this way until we have single-payer.

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. But in this case, LOWER price for non insured.

Actually, I could get my regular scripts at 4.00 a month, at Wal-Mart, but their pharmacy does stupid stuff and I don't trust them anymore.
So I pay a bit more at the local pharmacy, which will correct any mistakes cheerfully.

[Laffy Kat]

12. Ooooh. I misunderstood.

Well, that's great! Hopefully things are changing due to the ACA. I have my new job thanks to the ACA.

[snappyturtle]

5. I think drugs should have ONE price to all no matter the parment method.

I've been told just the opposite with dental work. I was told by office staff that I would pay less if I had insurance.

[Ms. Toad]

16. If you are in network for the insurance,

by contract with the insurance company they are required to give you the (discounted) price they have negotiated with the insurance company. The power of numbers.

[snappyturtle]

17. I'm just saying that all people, insured or not, should pay the same. nt

[notadmblnd]

6. My co-pays are all different

for example, my copay for abuterol for my nebulizer is 7 dollars, but my co-ppay for my abuterol inhaler is 35.00. Once the Dr prescribed me claritan and the ppharmacy wanted to charge me 30 dollars co-pay but the same shit over the counter was 9.00

[Princess Turandot]

7. It might be a situation where the script costs less than the coinsurance...

For example, say you have a $15 coinsurance per prescription. There are times when the prescription cost might be less than that, because the drug has long been a generic one, or because the quantity of pills in the script is fairly small. So the direct cost of the script might be $12. You would pay that rather than the $15.

I've always assumed that the script is still charged to the insurance company for the $12 in the example, but with no payment actually due from them to the pharmacy because I paid the $12 coinsurance. Her calling that a 'cash' price might just be the pharmacy's jargon for such a transaction.

[dionysus]

15. naw, here they advertise their "cash price" for a list of generic drugs. a list of different shit

all for 4 bucks. it's not everything by any means, but a few common drugs, such as BP meds and antibiotics are dirt cheap.

[sharp_stick]

8. Your insurance may have a minimum

for scripts. I check each of mine with the Pharmacist to see if it's more or less with the insurance. The $4/30 day supply drugs available at Walmart and Target are pretty much always done off insurance because your insurance company would want you to pay the minimum, usually $15/30 day supply.

[dionysus]

14. yep...wrote a song about it, here it goes. was on a blood pressure med once. insurance price was $20

store pharmacy did a deal with the generic drug manufacturer, it was $4. they always reminded me to pay the cash price.

note: not available for many prescription drugs, terms may vary