Free Prescription RX Card

[somarco]

There are quite a few "free" cards out there . . . none of them worth the price of admission. In most cases the "discounts" are non-existent. The price charged to the individual is higher than it would be if they did not have coverage.

The free cards charge the holder AWP + a markup + a dispensing fee. Most (if not all) the cards have per fill kickbacks built in that are paid to the distributor. The agent will usually get $0.15 - $0.25 per fill and more payouts up the food chain.

A smart shopper can use Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc for many of their meds and save money. If you have access to a Costco or Sam's you will find you can fill your Rx there at a lower price than the free card. There are also many mail order suppliers with better pricing.

Someone who has an HSA with Rx cover doesn't need the card and again, they will pay a higher price for the med than they would if they had simply presented the carrier's card at time of the fill.

The so-called Rx copay plans (such as Select Rx) are also rip offs to the consumer.

If you want to help clients, tell them about the $4 generics, online sources like Cross Border and Isrameds.There are also plenty of PAP's that can help those who are poor or uninsurable and deliver much better value.

I have not updated this site in quite some time but I still get 30 - 50 hits per week with absolutely no promotion.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

An aside;

The Net Wish site is fantastic. I wish I could find it but in MD someone put up a similar site to cater to people with a utility turn-off notice.

The max gift was $500, you had to send in your turn-off notice - money was paid directly to the utility company - no cash and it was one request per person.

I wish I could find that site - they had saves thousands from having their power turned off.

 

[Alsky]

There are quite a few "free" cards out there . . . none of them worth the price of admission. In most cases the "discounts" are non-existent. The price charged to the individual is higher than it would be if they did not have coverage.

The free cards charge the holder AWP + a markup + a dispensing fee. Most (if not all) the cards have per fill kickbacks built in that are paid to the distributor. The agent will usually get $0.15 - $0.25 per fill and more payouts up the food chain.

A smart shopper can use Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc for many of their meds and save money. If you have access to a Costco or Sam's you will find you can fill your Rx there at a lower price than the free card. There are also many mail order suppliers with better pricing.

Someone who has an HSA with Rx cover doesn't need the card and again, they will pay a higher price for the med than they would if they had simply presented the carrier's card at time of the fill.

The so-called Rx copay plans (such as Select Rx) are also rip offs to the consumer.

If you want to help clients, tell them about the $4 generics, online sources like Cross Border and Isrameds.There are also plenty of PAP's that can help those who are poor or uninsurable and deliver much better value.

I have not updated this site in quite some time but I still get 30 - 50 hits per week with absolutely no promotion.

Sorry... this card is a value. I have had clients call the pharmacy BEFORE they go to get a script filled... and did not tell the pharmacy about this rx card, got the price over the phone and when they went into the pharmacy, used the card and received a substantial savings.

I can't comment about other discount cards because I do not have experience with any of them, but I can comment on this one and there is value with this card.

In addition, PAP takes time and forms, the 3 and 4 dollar scripts are limited to certain types... by the way, Publix gives free antibiotics, and of course I am sure the good agents out there like yourself are informing their clients of all the programs available.

This card fills a Gap... it stays on file at the pharmacy so you don't have to show it everytime and it does reduce the prescription costs... end of story. I have had too many clients call me and thank me for informing them about this card to doubt them. I'll continue to fully inform my clients and offer help if in the position to do so.

 

[Guest]

I agree with Al, I've seen success also, when it's used correctly.

Just like health insurance. Some people don't check or know you need to go to an in network provider, then they say the insurance doesn't work. Quite funny.

As a side: Hey Somarco, how many of those 30 to 50 a week do you convert into clients? That's awesome traffic.

 

[Guest]

There are quite a few "free" cards out there . . . none of them worth the price of admission.

Hmmm . . . free card? Price of admission? didn't think that one out did ya? LOL.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Amazing - not only are things that cost money scams but now free things are scams.

Obviously if you have insurance you're gonna whip out your insurance prescription card. That would be a "duh" statement for me.

 

[somarco]

Actually, the card may have some merit . . . in some situations.

FWIW, the site does offer sample pricing . . . which is more than most of these sites. I checked the prices on a handful of meds and it wasn't bad. I have seen a lot worse.

Also, I did a search of par pharmacy's within 5 miles of my home. It listed all the major pharmacy's (CVS, Eckerd (now RiteAid), Kroger, Costco).

Pharmacy's who accept the plan are required to pay a processing fee to the marketer of this card. What you may find is some do not want to pay the fee and will refuse to honor the discount.

The next question is, is the pharmacy set up to reprice the card?

Pharmacy cards require the pharmacy to have access to the repricing database. The pharmacist keys in a group number and bin number to get the price.

If the PBM network is small the software may not recognize the codes and fail to reprice. This happens quite often with many of the free and fee Rx cards. Your client may have easy and quick access or they may have to come back days later after tech support has a chance to load in the information to communicate with the PBM.

I have personally experienced this in the past with some of the free cards.

Curiously, the PBM is not identified on the site, at least not that I have been able to find.

If you have a high deductible plan (including HDHP) I see no reason to use this card. (Exception noted below). Failure to present your insurance card at time of purchase means you may pay a higher price than is necessary and your med purchased with this card will not accrue toward the deductible, or be reimbursed if you have met your deductible.

Of course you could always file the claim manually with your carrier and hope for the best.

If your plan has an exclusionary rider for certain meds or pre-ex conditions, the card can be beneficial in providing some relief.

And yes, Rob, I did know exactly what I was doing in saying free Rx cards are generally not worth the price of admission. If you pay more with the card than without it then your free card actually is costing something more than $0.

 

[Bob_The_Insurance_Guy]

If I'm not mistaken, #1, I believe this would be beneficial to the uninsurables - Diabetics, Osteoperosis, etc. They may be able to get a break, and any break is better than none, on medications.

This would NOT include the generics for $4. If you are a 58 year old woman, with no insurance, and take Celebrex, not the generic, but the brand, tell me how much it would be at Kroger, and how much it would be with this card?

You have to remember, many 50 yr olds and up, don't want to change to a generic, or, as is the case with my mother, her *** of a Rheumetologist (sp?) won't prescribe anything BUT the brand, due to the other meds she takes.

Not that I'm disagreeing with you, #1. Just seeing the coin from the other side.

A bad analogy: It's easy for someone to tell an unemployed person to get a part time job at McDonalds until they find something. Quite a different story when its' you, and the Manager won't hire you, because they know that once you find something, you're gone, and they have to deal with the cost of turnover.

We all seem to believe that the elderly will automatically switch to all generic versions (actually my dad did, but not my mom). Quite a different story when they have never done it, or have a quack doc who won't do it.

BTW, how much could someone save on Cumadin with this discount card?

 

[Guest]

And yes, Rob, I did know exactly what I was doing in saying free Rx cards are generally not worth the price of admission. If you pay more with the card than without it then your free card actually is costing something more than $0.

The LOL just meant I was ribbing you buddy.

 

[somarco]

Celebrex, 200 mg, 100 tabs.

$368 with the free Rx card

$131 at Crossborder ($99 for generic).

$112 at Costco (membership not required).

$109 carrier pricing (if insurable)

Can't say how much it is at Kroger but you can see there is quite a discrepancy in pricing. Thanks for picking that example to (at least partially) prove my point.

So how much is that free card if you take Celebrex?

More than I can count on my fingers and toes.

Coumadin, 7.5 mg, 100 tabs.

$95 for free Rx.

$56 at Crossborder

$127 at Costco ($22 for generic Warfarin)

$111 carrier pricing ($62 for generic)

That is the other issue with any Rx plan, not just the stand alone ones. Just because you get a good price on one med doesn't translate to equivalent savings on all meds.

Your client must learn to be an informed shopper.

Using any card, especially a free one, will generate different pricing for the same med from pharmacy to pharmacy. You can also find pricing discrepancies in the same pharmacy chain depending on the part of town where the Rx is filled.