There are lots of ways to save on prescriptions, but it does take some work to find the deals and then work out the math to see if it makes sense. Most people I guess just do what the insurance companies tell them to do.
My philosophy is that no insurance company is ever on your side ... health, auto, home, etc. From the very get-go you and the insurance companies are in an adversarial position, each wanting a different financial outcome from the transaction or event. Call me cynical, I know.
I agree, insurance is never on your side, but some do a good job at keeping my costs lower than they would be (many a year they’ve paid out more than we’ve paid in for our premiums.).
I have MS and for many years took one of the MS injectable meds for the cost of about $3000 per month (15 shots, one every other day.) I had the same copay as any Tier 3 med for which I was grateful.
I went off that med a few years ago as my MS “status” changed and drugs are not approved for the level that I’m at, and that’s okay with me.
But my insurance now handles those Disease Modifying meds as non-formulary and the cost is something like 25% of the actual cost. At that cost, I wouldn’t have taken the med because I couldn’t have afforded it.
However, I know the Pharma companies do offer assistance programs and the cost of meds are greatly reduced, and this is outside of insurance. They have a sliding scale, based on income, of what they charge for the med, and it comes straight from the drug company. I can understand why the insurance company had to protect themselves, because some of the newer drugs in this category can run up to $60,000 a year (for the pill form), versus the $36000 a year the injectables cost when I was using
I’m not quite Medicare age, another year for that, but I’ll stay on my husband’s insurance as long as he is working for a company that provides healthcare as an option. We pay a chunk each month and the company pays the rest, but at this point I’m probably paying more than I’m using, as far as services and meds go, but I would never be without coverage because I know first hand how quickly bills can mount up if there’s a medical crisis.