How much do you pay for prescriptions per month?

I heard about the Mark Cuban site and it sounds like a great deal, especially for those who take a lot of medications. Since he’s an entrepreneur and has a lot of experience, I’m sure he’ll tweak it and it will become very popular.

I take one medication, a generic, and so I get it at Costco for a few dollars per month.

I take 9 plus 3 over-the-counter. Cuban doesn’t carry adderall or any controlled meds, but I found out I can get my adderall at Walgreens using goodrx for $50 instead of the $100 I was paying at my other pharmacy. I’m going to do some research and look at trustpilot and a couple others sites for non-partisan reviews, then I may join.

The drugs it covers are all generics, which is fine, but some people have been disappointed by that. I run from prescription medications as much as possible.

@smudges Not sure if you can take the generic of Adderall but I googled what Costco charges. In some states, you don’t have to be a member to use the Costco Pharmacy (by state’s law), or maybe it might benefit you, if you wanted to, to join it for $60 per year to have access.

This is what I got from their site for Costco prescrition prices for Adderall generic:
https://www.costco.com/cmpps?drugIdentifierParam=02399566256&drugNameParam=Adderall

$5. I only have 1 prescription at this time.

$0. I have no prescriptions I need to take.

@jca2 Yes, I take the generic. I checked out the info about costco and can use the pharmacy without paying a membership fee, which is good. Unfortunately, as of Oct 2022 there’s been a nationwide shortage of adderall and for the last 3 months I’ve had to go to 3 different pharmacies. I call ahead to see if they have my mgs and amount, and if they do, I let my prescriber know, he e-scripts them a script, then I hurry to get it before someone else does.

The reasons for the shortage this time around are because there’s been a huge increase in prescriptions written since 2021 or so. But whomever watches out for controlled drugs hasn’t increased the amount that manufacturers are allowed to make. <eye roll>

If it gets to the point where the Walgreens or CVS branches can’t get it, I would check out Costco and other places, but for now, I have 3 Walgreens within 3 miles of me. Thank you so much for checking into that for me.

It’s extremely stressful on patients. We can only fill a script one month at a time, and can only get a script within a week or less of running out. So I’m often kind of frantic, knowing that I only have 2–3 days of adderall left and not knowing if my pharmacy will have it or if I’ll have to go ‘hunting’. Multiply that by the number of people taking it in my city and there’s a lot of balls in the air! :\ Plus, my prescriber is kind of hit or miss. He’s in a different office 2 days a week and I have to keep my fingers crossed that he gets my email requesting a script.

It’s a whole big deal. LOL

Those of you with zero to a few scripts are lucky. I had no idea a person could age without having medications. I have 2 for cholesterol, 1 for blood pressure, 1 for thyroid, 1 for stomach acid, 1 for arthritis pain, and 4 are psych meds. Oh, that’s 10, not 9.

You guys must be in amazing health!

@smudges Mine is just levothyroxene for slow thyroid. I don’t use the mail in system, which would be free, because I don’t like that I’d be relying on the company to keep track of getting it in t he mail, and especially with the mail being unreliable now. Since the generic is only 6 and change at Costco, once a month, I just pay it and deal with it. If I had a lot of meds, or meds that were expensive, I would have to reconsider.

I used to hear a lot of complaints from coworkers about people who didn’t get their refills in a timely fashion, etc.

With my plan, with a one time prescription, like say for an antibiotic, it’s covered, free for generic and a few dollars copay for name brand, but for anything that’s chronic, they try to compel you to use the mail in.

@smudges Thank you. I’m 62 years old. Just had a physical and am in great shape. I think by BP was 126/85 which is higher than it usually is. The doctor told me those numbers were likely to be the lowest she would see all day. I was blessed with good health.

It was about $15 and then it went up to $40 and then it came down again. I have new insurance now, so I don’t know what it will be. A doctor prescribed me a new drug to try, but it was going to $75 so I didn’t fill it. Maybe I’ll try it. I don’t think it will make a difference.

I also buy OTC that isn’t so cheap. Probably $10 a month, because I don’t take it perfectly every day like I do my Rx.

@seawulf575 Good for you! I do believe a lot of it is hereditary, but lifestyle also plays a large part.

@JLeslie You probably know this, but insurance often pays for up to $50/month in over-the-counter items. Mine has a huge list of things it will cover.

You might want to check out that new drug at the link I provided. They’re prices are freakin’ amazing, and he explains why on the site, if I remember correctly.

@jca2 Yeah, I hear you! I really don’t like relying on mail-in; it takes the control out of my hands.

I tried it for a few months quite a few years ago, and one month they sent me something for cholesterol instead of my blood pressure med. I didn’t realize it until late in the month when I happened to actually read the label under their label. I was furious and scared at the same time!

@smudges Thanks!

A family member got a prescription filled last week which was over $300 retail. It was going to be $157 with his insurance. He used a GoodRx card and got his medicine for $38.00. There is another good card called Single Care. These cards are free and save you money….......often better than what your insurance coverage provides.

I pay nothing because I have no prescriptions, I haven’t had any for years.

@SnipSnip Yes! I use goodrx to get my adderall down from $100/month to $50. My insurance won’t even cover the amount the doc prescribes, so I don’t even bother with them.

I have Kaiser Medicare Senior Advantage for $18 a month, and my 4 prescription medications are free, and the 5 supplements are discounted.

Wow! I have AARP Medicare Advantage through UnitedHealthcare and as far as I know they don’t offer anything like that.