Bargain Quest

It’s worse than I thought. After writing about my discoveries shopping around for drug prices, I was quite interested to read a Freakonomics blog post “If Crack Dealers Took Lessons From Walgreens They Would Really Be Rich,” inspired by a Wall Street Journal story “Why Generic Doesn’t Always Mean Cheap” (Found through My Two Dollars - “Avoid These Pharmacies That Mark Up Drugs a Ridiculous Amount.”)

The example given is prices for 90 tablets of generic Prozac in Houston range from $117 at Walgreens down to $12 at Costco.

Folks, even though you might think generics would cost about the same everywhere, that just ain’t the case. The point vividly illustrated in the WSJ story: “For the more than 46 million Americans without health insurance — plus perhaps millions more whose insurance plans don’t cover drugs — the lesson is to shop carefully.” (emphasis mine) If you don’t have drug coverage through insurance, you might have a lot to gain by researching prices offered beyond your corner drugstore. Even if you have coverage, prices at Walmart, Costco, or the hospital might be lower than your copay. Be a proactive, informed consumer and check around!

I didn’t mention Costco or Sam’s Club in the previous drug post, but it appears they offer very competitive prices on generic drugs. Not a member? I’m not either, but an interesting point was raised in the Freakonomics blog comments: You don’t need to be a member to get a prescription filled at either one.