I have a feeling I’m far behind the curve on this, and that many people who read these pages already use GoodRx. However, because I also suspect that are at least people who – like me – “know about” GoodRx from their TV ads but never paid much attention, they might not have any idea if it’s worth ever using. To me, GoodRx seemed like an auxiliary insurance or something, so the ads have washed past me. But it all sort of fell into my lap the other day, and was somewhat amazing. If you do know all about it, then never mind, you can stop here and wander elsewhere more interesting for the time being, and come back later for other festivities. Or it just may not apply to you. But in case you do have any prescriptions, and are one of those who (like me) weren't aware how it actually works, this is what happened: I have a couple of prescriptions (each on a 3-month order). One is very low cost. However, I’ve started a new prescription that’s solidly higher – when I filled my first 3-month prescription of it a few months back, the cost about $130 for the three months. That’s not terrible per month, though much more than my other one. But I was fine with it. When I went to refill the prescription at my pharmacy last week, the pharmacist’s assistant looked at the price and said, ‘Hmm, let’s see if there’s a coupon for this.” She checked her computer, and said that she found a “GoodRx” coupon, so the cost for the full three months will only be about…$21. I quipped back, “Oh. Well…okay, that’s less, then.” She said that in the future when I get my prescription refilled for this one medication, I should just tell them to apply the GoodRx coupon. And that’s what stood out even further to me – I didn’t need to have a coupon or…well, anything. Just say “Please apply the GoodRx coupon.” The pharmacist came over and said (if I understood him correctly) the only downside is that they can only apply the discounted price to insurance to be applied toward my deductible. But that’s fine. For now, I don’t expect to reach the deductible anyway, so this is far better. A savings for $110 on a $130 bill seems fine by me… I later skimmed the GoodRx website, and have a cursory idea now of how it works. It says there’s no cost, and there’s no need to even sign up for their discount card (since as long as you only have to tell your pharmacy to apply the GoodRx discount, that’s all that’s needed.) That said, it’s probably used by most people who perhaps go to different pharmacies and therefore do print out the coupons – whose discounts differ from pharmacy to pharmacy – but since my pharmacy said to just tell them to apply the discount, even the coupons aren’t necessary, at least with them. I brought this up to my doctor, and he was aware of it. And he said that sometimes it seems too good to be true. His nurse assistant said she uses it all the time for friends to tell them where the best deals are. Basically, you go on their website (or download the app), type in the drug you’re interested it, and it returns a list of the different member pharmacies and what their cost to you will be. With a link to print out a coupon. To show you how it works, I did an Internet search for the most popular drug medications, and #1 is Vicodin. So, I went to the GoodRx website, typed in “Vicodin”, hit <Enter> and this was the result it came up with. Assuming your pharmacy is on the list, you can print out the coupon for it, or – if you have the app – show this result to your pharmacy. Or, I suppose like mine, just tell them to apply the GoodRx discount. And if it’s not a drug where you have a prescription, you could just use the pharmacy with the best price. Or change pharmacies. The sense I get is that for many people, the app is a good thing to have in order to check out the best deals. But in my case, it doesn’t even seem necessary – because a) my costs are generally pretty low, b) I get my prescriptions from one pharmacy, and c) most importantly, that pharmacy told me I only have to tell them to apply the GoodRx discount when I pick up my prescriptions! That’s what’s so bizarre about this. It seems great under any condition – but for many people (including me), it’s even better since you don’t even have to do quite literally anything. Other than say, “Please give me the discount.” Getting the GoodRx card probably gives a greater discount, but there’s no way of knowing how much. And since they ask for a bit of personal information, it wasn’t worth it to me, and I let it pass. If one’s prescription costs are low to begin with, there likely won’t be any benefit. But if a person has any medication that does take a bit of a bite, the benefits seem significant. As my doctor said -- “Sometimes it does seem too good to be true!” I haven’t downloaded the app yet, though may, just because there’s really no downside and maybe there’d be some instance where it’s helpful if you go to get your medication and there’s a screw-up. So, we’ll see. The website is at www.goodrx.com. You can type in a medication and see how it works. As I said, some of you may know about this and how it works. Many may. But I wanted to pass it along to any others who, like me, have let it slip by, just in case.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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