I recently quit my job as a part time RN. I had always obtained my medications through my employee insurance, paying a co-payment each time — sometimes $15, sometimes $30, depending on the medication. Some time ago the hospital got smarter and figured out how to allow us to get a certain number of medications on a very specific list directly from the hospital pharmacy for only $5.00 for a one month supply. If obtained from other pharmacies the co-payment remained the same.
Since I would now be paying for my own medications without insurance covering them I needed to do a little research. I never seem to need antibiotics, but if I ever do I am very aware of the new policy that makes most antibiotics absolutely free at any Publix Pharmacy. I looked at the www.myfloridarx.com web site sponsored by the Florida Attorney General where you can look up costs of 100 most commonly used drugs at numerous pharmacies in your area.
I checked Walmart and Target. Both provided all but one of my drugs for only $4.00 per month. Since I live in north Pinecrest I figured I’d just move my prescriptions to Target because they had great prices and were close by. Then I checked the price of my last drug, a generic version of Zocor, simvastatin, to lower cholesterol. Whoa! $152 for 30 pills?? Couldn’t be right! But it was. I checked CVS ($64.99), Wallgreen ($84.99) and Publix ($75.95).
Then I remembered once seeing something on TV about a study showing that nationally Costco and Sam’s Club had the best pharmacy prices. I checked the Costco web site. The price for simvastatin 40 mg. was $12.77 for 100 pills! Could that really be right?? I called the Costco pharmacy even though I am not a member. Indeed it was correct! That’s a nearly 4,000% difference! You don’t even need to be a member of Costco to use the pharmacy! Other meds that were going to be a low $4.00 per month at Target were quoted at $10.00 for 100 pills. You can probably guess that Costco is my new pharmacy.
Here’s the link to check for your own drug prices: http://www.costco.com/Common/Category.aspx?cat=678&eCat=BC|678 I’ve already been there and found the people there incredibly nice and efficient. Kudos to them!