A couple of years ago my husband was prescribed Crestor for his high cholesterol. After 6 months, our prescription drug program provider sent us a letter stating they would not be offering Crestor anymore. We had to change his medication to Vytorin. These two drugs aren't even the same and are made by different companies. Crestor is a rosuvastatin calcium drug made by AstraZeneca. Vytorin is an ezetimibe with simvastatin manufactured by Merck/Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals.
Last month we get another letter that our provider will not longer cover Vytorin and that he needs to switch back to Crestor. This is not based on anything our doctor has told us or any research done with these drugs. It appears to be based on which pharmaceutical company is offering them the best price. I am waiting on them to send a similar letter about my Advicor.
Now I'm really steaming. I reviewed our prescription purchases and it seems that our drug insurance is charging us more than the store would for the Vytorin. We had been paying $30 for a 30 day supply. Then I noticed it jumped to $60 during the middle of the year. I checked and it seems that if I pay regular price at WalMart it would have only cost $38.19 for a 30 day supply. So we have been getting over-charged by $21.81 a month for his prescription because we have a drug program.
I have found a solution after doing research on the varies cholesterol drugs available. It seems Crestor, Advicor and Vytorin are just newer, more expensive versions of old standards like lovastatin, simvastatin and rosuvastatin. Some have niacin added. WalMart offers lovastatin at $4 for 30 days or $10 for 90 days. So why pay these outragous prices for name brand drugs. Niacin isn't that expensive. This means I can buy a year's supply for both my husband's and I for less than we were spending for 3 months of his medication.
Do not let your insurance programs or doctors decide how much you need to be spending on medication. Research your options. These options for us will result in major savings. Total cost per year for my husband and I is now $165 a year for lovastatin and niacin. We spent $1110 last year for the name brand drugs and only saw a slight improvement in our cholesterol levels. We should be able to receive the same or better results with the generic versions of our medications. The $945 not lining drug manufacturers' pockets in 2009 will be put to more practical use by us.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Insurance Drug Programs and Deals with Pharmaceutical Companies
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I am SO with you on the meds. My wife and I, between the two of us, have quite a few prescriptions a month. We were able to change more than half of them from name brand to generic just by talking to our doctor and doing some research. We've cut our over all meds bill by more than half! It is so worth it to do the research!
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