Are You Buying Illegal Drugs?
With some of my patients drugs costing hundreds of dollars per month, it is no wonder that there is a rich black-market in medication heists. This can be parlayed onto recent news stories of senior citizens making bus trips into Canada to get affordable meds through its national health care plan.
- Proactively ask for generic options for medications prescribed by your physician. By law, generics are to have at least an 80% bioequivalence to the brand-name drugs.
- In some conditions however, like diabetes and seizures, the branded formulations of insulin or anti-epileptic drugs are required.
- Pre-tax dollars saved towards Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are not subject to federal income tax at the time of deposit and roll over to the next year and can help minimize catastrophic consequences due to ill-health.
http://usafact.org/HSA-HealthSavingsAccountforMedicalinsurance.html - Generics are available at your local pharmacy for a lower co-pay. The bigger the better -- so instead of the corner Rx store, go to large chains such as Walmart, which lobby for cheaper prices and offer $4 co-pays.
- If you require long-term medications for chronic conditions, ask your health insurer for pharmacy plans they've contracted with for medications which can be shipped to your door at a better price than the brick-and-mortar pharmacy visit.
