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rules, games, and obtuse strategies in our chaotic healthcare system! —Barry Northrop, via CR.org YOUR RECENT ARTICLE didn’t mention the prescription discount programs in Oregon and Washington state administered by ArrayRx. Every resident of the state is eligible, but they have to join. There is no membership fee. The discounts are substantial and honored by many pharmacies in both states. The discounts are sometimes enough that the drug will cost less than some insurance copays. —Alex Censor, Ashland, OR
Our May 2022 article “Save Big on Rx Drugs!” shared important info on how to get the best possible prices when buying your prescription meds online. Our readers shared their own money-saving strategies. To add your ideas, head to CR.org/rxdrugcosts. MANY THANKS FOR your story “Save Big on Rx Drugs!” I have been on Medicare for three years, and none of the drug plans I’ve had have a decent price for Estradiol—helpful for women in menopause. Under my current drug plan, I paid $100 for eight doses. After I investigated all of the mailorder plans included in the story, I found the drug at CostPlusDrugs.com: 30 doses for a grand total of $34.10, which included $5 shipping. Wow. You have paid for my
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subscription to Consumer Reports for a few years with the savings! Thanks for your great service. —Patricia Van Zandt, Williamsburg, VA THANK YOU FOR your reporting. As a Medicare Part D subscriber, on my plan this year I pay dearly for any script that isn’t a tier 1 drug. My healthcare provider usually pushes back regarding my requests for a paper script so I can comparison shop before a script is transmitted to my “selected” pharmacy provider. Transferring a script sent electronically is not always easy or optimal. —Linda Webb, Willoughby, OH
EDITOR’S NOTE All of the online pharmacies we checked when reporting our May feature allowed consumers to comparison shop without requiring proof of a prescription. If you find a site you’d like to use, you can ask your doctor or pharmacist to transfer the prescription to the online seller. Some websites may even put in the request on your behalf. THANKS FOR SOME names of online pharmacies. I switched a tier 3 prescription from my Costco warehouse to Costco’s mail-order service, which saved me considerably because it was not run through my insurance. Then I discovered that it was cheaper still at the Costco warehouse if not run through insurance. So many
WHEN I LOOKED at [an online pharmacy] several years ago, the fine print stated that it would harvest your web browser history and resell it. Pharmacy staff are just being helpful when they tell you to go online to get a coupon, but no one mentions that by doing so, you give up your privacy. —Wendy Eidukas, St. Paul, MN EDITOR’S NOTE It’s possible that some online pharmacies may collect information about you. One easy way to protect your privacy when looking for Rx drug discounts may be to ask your pharmacist to look up and print out coupons for you. ARE MAILED MEDICATIONS safe? Your article on lower prices was excellent. My insurance offers a very inexpensive plan if it can mail the medication. I have researched degradation due to heat and to a lesser degree cold. With slower mail service and a metal mailbox, I am concerned. I am hypertensive and do not want my medications to be degraded and not work. Any thoughts or research in this area? —George Hager, Collegeville, PA
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