Meds - prices - Amazon pharmacy vs. Walgreens

[The Heretic]

Atorvotstatin	Walgreens	Amazon
Without insurance	$7.40 per pill	50¢ per pill

With a lot of people out of work, a lot of people are probably without healthcare insurance too.

I had a bit of sticker shock when I went to refill my prescriptions at Walgreens without insurance after I was laid off. When I saw how much they wanted without insurance, I told them to stuff it and went to Amazon's new pharmacy service.

No Medicare does not pay for meds - you have to buy a third party plan. Average cost is $42 per month - more than I pay for my meds out of pocket from Amazon, and Amazon delivers to my doorstep.

Just saying.

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[Ruger Rich]

Good info. THNX

 

[Norwestr55]

Medicare pays for some meds (after you jump thru their hoops) which is an excuse for insurance companies not to pay for them. They recently started paying for Albuterol nebulizer solutions so of course my type D (drug) plan insurer refused to pay. I didn't have the 2-4 weeks it takes for Medicare to approve it so I checked at BiMart re price. $160 if you use this coupon.

I checked at Riteaid and it was $24 with the same coupon. It pays to shop around.

 

[The Heretic]

Amazon Albuterol Inhalation Solution $8
Strength: 1.25 MG/3ML (0.042 %)
Without insurance

 

[Norwestr55]

Amazon Albuterol Inhalation Solution $8
Strength: 1.25 MG/3ML (0.042 %)
Without insurance

Thanks I'm signed up there, I'll give it a try. Cigna is still paying for Atorvotstatin and Lisinopril. I pay $4 a month for each so thats not bad. Some of this stuff they do get you though.

 

[Barefootdog]

There is an on line site Rx.com or something like that has worked out great pricing locally. Log on tell them what you're after and they provide a list of local providers and pricing.....they provide a price coupon for whichever provider you choose.

I was shopping meds for one of my dogs....my daughter is a nurse practitioner and told me about it. Saved a bunch of money. I'll text her and confirm the site name.

 

[Flopsweat]

There is an on line site Rx.com or something like that has worked out great pricing locally. Log on tell them what you're after and they provide a list of local providers and pricing.....they provide a price coupon for whichever provider you choose.

I was shopping meds for one of my dogs....my daughter is a nurse practitioner and told me about it. Saved a bunch of money. I'll text her and confirm the site name.

https://www.goodrx.com/

 

[The Heretic]

Yeah, my primary care told me about goodrx, but I didn't want to go hunting around for coupons all the time or be at their mercy. So now I am at the mercy of Jeff Bezos.

 

[Hawaiian]

I used goodrx for my some of my dog's meds. Good savings.

 

[made in china]

When I was young, we had a dog with parvo and "valley fever" the medication for VF was so cost prohibitive that my mother would buy it from Mexico (we lived in AZ then). It was like 20x more expensive in USA.

My main concern would be with how Amazon tries to consolidate industries to the lowest common denominator then corner the market. We all like the convenience of Amazon Prime, but nowadays since AP has been a significant player in the downfall of brick-n-mortar retail, if you shop on Amazon you are bombarded with endless Chinese no-name products. At full retail price. Lately, I've been trying to get bed sheets, and Bed Bath shelves are empty, Sears is gone, looking at Amazon it's all weird "chinglish" brand-names and when I specify I want cotton using Amazon search engine all I get are Chinese microfiber products. It totally sucks.

Amazon will keep the prices low to dismantle brick-mortar pharmacies, but when that is done they will then control what you pay. Today, it seems like a good deal. 3 years from now you will be beholden to them. And if you think competition is good? The times are changing. If Amazon has the power to limit free-speach (shut down Parler) you can bet Amazon won't tolerate competitors in it's market space.

And, when everyone else is out of a job, and you think you are getting a "good deal" the government will come in and take more taxes to pay for all of the jobs lost/welfare and inflation will creep up even more steeply to offset the burden of the consolidation of retail into a monopoly.

Anyways, it's convenient to buy from Amzon when the brick-mortars still exist. But, when they are gone, don't expect Amazon to be your friend any more!

 

[Member 34319]

Damn, Amazon!

As much as you want to hate them, that's a huge difference.

They'll be running everything soon enough.

 

[The Heretic]

Amazon is not the all powerful monopoly people think they are. I still check prices, brick & mortar businesses still exist - e.g., Costco does a decent job of it, and I considered them, but for me it is at least an hour round trip. Pharmacies don't really provide me any service IMO - they are just a barrier to getting my scripts refilled every month. If the world worked the way I wanted, I could buy any med I wanted, as much as I wanted, and have it delivered to my door. At most I would want to have a doctor tell me which meds I need and what the dose is. From there, have a yearly checkup.

That kind of service IS exactly what I want. Living on a mountain, being a recluse/hermit/heretic, I don't want to go into town four times a month because they spread out the refill times to be different days. I should only need to go into town to get groceries and no, Amazon isn't running Winco or Costco out of business. Plus the little local grocery store at the base of the mountain, that was there when I was 6 years old, is still there, even though it burnt down and had to be rebuilt.



As is the Second Store cafe.

As for Walgreens - they can stuff it.

 

[Provincial]

I have been with Kaiser for over 20 years. I am now using them for Medicare Plus. We went to Kaiser for our company health plan when everyone else priced themselves above what we could afford. I no longer have the company, but I stay with them.

Kaiser has its drawbacks in that the offices are 20+ miles away (the clinic 15 miles away is down during COVID), and the care is what I call "almost single-payer." Sometimes you have to push pretty hard to get them to do what you need, but I have encountered this with all providers. On the other hand, they have done an excellent job on outpatient surgery, like cataracts and a knee replacement. They also are very good at preventive care and diagnosis. They have a very deep resource for Diagnosis and care, with initial response just a phone call away. Because of the distance, we use the Advice Nurse system regularly.

The reason I mention this is that I get all my prescription refills through their mail-order pharmacy. The prices are about the same as Costco if you include the cost of postage. I find that a reasonable price for the convenience.

My wife is trying another Medicare network in order to go to a doctor here in town. So far, the Customer Service at the Network level (not the doctor's office) has been very poor. She may well return to Kaiser soon.

 

[bigbearbear]

Atorvotstatin	Walgreens	Amazon
Without insurance	$7.40 per pill	50¢ per pill

Holy smokes....that is an INSANE level of difference.

 

[The Heretic]

So far, in three doctor visits since I went on Medicare, it has not paid a cent - not one penny.

 

[7SFCW4]

My non-narcotic pain meds were several hundred dollars per month, purchasing form these folks is now $40.00 / month

https://honeybeehealth.com/

Take a look, you'll be glad you did. Most of my prescription stuff is cheaper from HONEYBEE than with my current health care provider

 

[clearconscience]

It's scary how much amazon has taken over.

I would imagine just like everything these scrips are coming from China and backdooring the big pharma.

Thanks Bezos and everyone else for weakening the US, and strengthening china.

I wish amazon had a search option for what country it comes from.

I feel like amazon is a cohort of intellectual theft by china.

 

[made in china]

It's scary how much amazon has taken over.

I would imagine just like everything these scrips are coming from China and backdooring the big pharma.

Thanks Bezos and everyone else for weakening the US, and strengthening china.

I wish amazon had a search option for what country it comes from.

I feel like amazon is a cohort of intellectual theft by china.

Agreed.

Most of the main active ingredients in meds sold in USA are from China, and to a lesser extent India.

We're nearly a year into this scamdemic and not a darn thing has changed, either. We actually rely on the country that makes the super-bugs to make our medicines and PPE. Ironic, eh?

 

[The Heretic]

I just read yesterday about the discounts Amazon gives on RXs; you have to be an Amazon Prime member to get the discount

 

[Wayne]

So far, in three doctor visits since I went on Medicare, it has not paid a cent - not one penny.

You must not have parts B, D I take it.