#1 Dinosaur brings up a good point. Monthly prescriptions for generic medications like HCTZ and atenolol are often times cheaper than the tier 1 co-pay ($10 in my area). Sometimes it’s cheaper to pay for them out of pocket.
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Wal-Mart has a list of a whole bunch of generic drugs they sell for four bucks ($4) for a 30-day supply. It’s a pretty impressive list. They rolled it out state-by-state.
Is the program in your state?
I say that because I learned there are some states where Wal-Mart is actually NOT allowed to sell the medicine so cheaply. Wal-Mart has the disclaimer “Program not available in…..X, Y, Z states”.
It appears there are some states with a price floor for prescriptions. You can’t sell the prescription below a certain price. I suspect the intent is to allow a profit for the mom-and-pop pharmacies.
Of course, the consumer pays the price.
Usually, pharmacies will price-match, so if Wal-Mart is selling the four dollar generics, the others will do the same.
Under Independence Blue Cross’ plan in Philadelphia, the insurance completely covering the cost of generics through the end of the year. So far, my husband has been able to get antibiotics for free.
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