The high cost of prescription (Rx) medications can be unaffordable for many Americans. Still, the U.S. spends more money each year on prescriptions than any other country. Prescription discount programs are available to help. Top-rated prescription discount cards lower regular prices at checkout in your pharmacy.
Prescription drug discounts are also available through certain health plans. Is it better to use a prescription discount app or a card for your medication? Do prescription savings card programs really work? Does my Rx card have extra benefits? Read ahead for tips on the 6 best prescription savings programs for 2024.
The high cost of prescription (Rx) medications can cause many Americans to not be able to afford the medications they need. Still, the U.S. spends approximately double the money per capita on prescriptions each year than most other countries in the world. Discount pharmacy card advertisements are shown every day, but do they really work?
The top-rated prescription discount cards claim to lower your medication expenses significantly. Why is the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. so high? Does an Rx savings card work at every pharmacy or do only some businesses participate in discount programs?
The free market allows medication manufacturers the ability to charge as much as they deem fit for their products. Discount programs are therefore crucial factors in helping Americans afford the medicines they need to stay healthy.
So, prescription savings card and prescription savings app programs both work the same way. It works like this: the prescription discount company hires a third party company called a Pharmacy Benefits Manager (PBM) to negotiate prescription drug discounts with a network of pharmacies. Participating pharmacies make less money per drug sold through these plans but generally gain more customers than they had without the programs. The prescription discount card price you pay includes hidden transaction, marketing and pharmacy fees.
These fees help the Rx card companies, the PBMs, and the pharmacies make back some of their money while you still ideally get cheaper medicine than you would without the program. Not all pharmacies accept all Rx discount programs and not all medicines are covered under every plan. While these limitations are true, discount pharmacy card programs have benefits for all parties involved when the required aspects for success are appropriately aligned.
Prescription discount programs are capable of being utilized in different ways. There are prescription discount app and prescription discount card programs, many of which are offered by each company. There are also discount coupon programs available.
The app programs are used on your smartphones or other smart technology enabled devices. The card-based programs use a scan-able Rx card when paying for your prescription(s) during checkout at a participating pharmacy.
Coupons are printable at home or scan-able via your smartphone at the pharmacy during checkout. Before choosing a prescription discount program it is advisable to first find out if your preferred pharmacy participates in the program and what other pharmacies in your area do or do not as well.
However, it’s important to note that all discount programs do not offer the same level of discounts on the same drugs.
Next, learn about GoodRX, one of the most popular discount programs in the US.
