[RKBA Democrat]

This article is a bit dated, but it shows the dramatic price difference for various pharmacies. Note that the article says that Costco doesn't require membership to use their pharmacy. I don't know if they allow you to use their mail order pharmacy as well, but you can always call and ask (or perhaps a FReeper could call and report back....hint-hint):

Pharmacy Member Service phone: 1-800-607-6861 fax: 1-800-633-0334 email: webpharmacy@Costco.com

ALSO: these stores are offering low cost or free generics:

Giant Eagle Supermarkets (Pennsylvania, Ohio, Northern West Virginia and Western Maryland) provide many generic drugs at $4 or $10 a prescription, and some prenatal vitamins for free.

Hy-Vee Stores(Midwestern States)offer $4 (30 days) and $10 (90 days) generics. You can browse by category on the Hy-Vee website.

Kroger (Midwestern States) has a long list of low cost generic drugs.

Market Street Pharmacies and United, Market Street and Amigos United Supermarkets (Texas) offer free pre-natal vitamins and some free antibiotics, dozens of both prescription and over-the-counter medications at $4. .

Meijer Stores (Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky) offers some antibiotics, pre-natal vitamins and some diabetes medicine for free. Learn more about these free medications. You may have to dig through the website to find them because they make it difficult to find.

Price Chopper Supermarkets (Missouri and Kansas) offer hundreds of $4 generics.

Price Chopper Supermarkets (Upstate New York and New England) offer free antibiotics and free diabetes medications.

Publix Supermarkets (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina) offers generic antibiotics, a free ACE inhibitor (blood pressure medicine) and some free diabetes medications

Reasor's Foods / Pharmacies (Oklahoma) offers free antibiotics, and free childrens' vitamins when they have been prescribed by a doctor.

Schnuck's Pharmacies (Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Mississippi, Iowa) offers a 21-day supply and prescribed refills for several types of antibiotics, and free prescription prenatal vitamins.

Shoprite Markets offer free antibiotics and some free diabetes medications, plus 30 and 90 day generics for $3.99 and $9.99. Find more information about ShopRite's programs.

Stater Bros. (Southern California) offers 30 and 90 day generics for $5 and $10. They even offer $4 co-pay drugs for pets! Find more information about Stater Bros' programs.

Stop&Shop Supermarkets (New England, New Jersey and New York) no longer offers any free prescriptions, but does offer low cost generic drugs in some stores.

Target (nationwide) offers hundreds of generic drugs at $4 per prescription.

Walmart / Sam's offers $4 generic drugs, but not in all states. Get more information about Walmart drug discounts.

Wegmans (New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland) offers some free antibiotics, and $10 and $4 co-pay generic drugs.

(Source: http://patients.about.com/od/managinghealthcarecosts/a/Stores-That-Offer-Free-And-Low-Cost-Prescription-Drugs.htm)

[RKBA Democrat]

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[Sherman Logan]

Note that the article says that Costco doesn't require membership to use their pharmacy.

Don't know about other states, but in FL it's state law that all pharmacies be open to anybody. Just explain at the door that you're headed for the pharmacy, and Costco will let you in.

[Mr. K]

I had a friend who needed antibiotic's for a scratch on her arm...

When she had the prescription filled it was $170. When I told them she had no insurance they re-filled it as a generic for $14

If she had insurance it would have only cost her the $10 “co-pay”, so she would not care about the price. The insurance company would have eaten the addition $160. This is why insurance costs so much.

“Co-pay’s” are the cause of many of the ills of the system. When the thing you want costs the same no matter where you go, there is no incentive to price things down.

When The government forces insurance to cover Viagara, it continues to cost $170 (or more) for a prescription.

In a free market, a drug that would allow men to have more sex would be so mass-produced that the costs would be down to pennies per pill.

But when The Government forces insurance to cover it at $170, it maximizes profits to keep making it the same way (as if it is in rare supply -OR- demand)

[Squantos]

Four dollar at Wally World list !... PDF file !

http://i.walmart.com/i/if/hmp/fusion/four_dollar_drug_list.pdf

[oblomov]

The Lexapro example is misleading. Lexapro (escitalopram) has had generic competition since 2012. It looks like some retailers are quoting the price of branded Lexapro, while others are quoting the price of generic escitalopram.

Why would one want to get branded Lexapro, effectively paying $140 more per month of therapy? Because the manufacturing standards vary greatly between manufacturers as well. Although the manufacturing facilities for all drugs sold in the US are inspected by the FDA (even if the plant is in India or China), a doctor may be wary of altering medication for a patient if the current therapy is working.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Ping!

[onyx]

I sure miss not having a CostCo.

[Oshkalaboomboom]

Clark Howard always gives out useful information and he is personally so cheap that he is driven to look for the best deals.

[fatnotlazy]

For a while I was getting Plavix and Lipitor from Canada. At the time, there were no generics for these brands. The prices were much better than anywhere in the States. I was getting 100 pills for less than the price for 90 here. The only drawback was that it could take 3 weeks to get the prescription.

[SeaHawkFan]

ClaratinD -24 hour allergy medication is $14-20 for 15 at CVS depending on whether you get the CVS brand or the Claratin brand.

Costco’s Kirkland brand is $5.79 for the same thing. If you can get your doctor to write a prescription, you can get a 30-day supply. If you spouse gets 15,you can get a 45-day supply on the same day.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

But what you don't know about the pricing of generics can hurt your wallet.

And what you don't know about the formulation of generics can hurt your health.

That name brand and generics are not always interchangeable is usually known. What is less well known is that generics are not always interchangeable with each other.

Pharmacies are not obliged to tell you when they have switched from one brand generic to another so if you are taking generics check every new bottle to see that they match what you were taking before. If they are different then treat them as a whole new medication and keep alert for different side effects.

[Organic Panic]

BUT we had to take over the entire medical care and health insurance industries because Sandra “SLUT” Fluck wouldn’t afford her birth control pills.

[ToastedHead]

There are a ton of free drug savings cards around now, easy to print out and bring in with you for a price check.

If you have a super friendly, unbitter pharmacist, they probably even have a stash they keep on them to be used for their fav customers. Not all discount cards give the same price, and some will randomly save a lot more on one drug than another.

I’ve had customers who I use one card for one drug, and another card for another drug. Its easy enough to look at the last refill and see which one you used.