GoodRX question

[imoldernu]

We're moving to the GoodRX Gold family plan @ $$9.99/mo. anyway, but there's a question. I've been getting regular emails that quote special prices... as:

30 days supply of the prescription XZY for the special price of $8.00, vs. recommended retail price of $40.00.

So, now.. after joining the Gold plan, will I always get XYZ for the lower price that GoodRX is offering, or was that just a special price to get me to sign up.... and, after I signed up the price might be $14.00?

In other words... after I sign up, do I still have to go to the GoodRX site, to print out a coupon for a lower price... one that may just be available for that one month?


................................................................ I
If that sounds confusing, consider your grocery store. It has low regular prices for Dawn Soap, but there's a newspaper ad with a coupon for $2. If you buy without the coupon, you'll pay full price.

Would I have to keep checking online for the lowest price coupon every time I refill, or would the plan give me the advertised price? Not exactly easy when the family has multiple prescriptions. I wouldn't like it if I paid for the plan, only to find out that the guy next to me, without a plan, was paying less. If it were a matter of a few dollars, no problem, but when the price is in the hundreds, yeah.... a problem.

My pharmacist demurred, and said no prices are guaranteed, but that ducked the question. (I am aware that prices may change from time to time.)

Thanks...

 

[sengsational]

I'd never heard of "GoodRx Gold", so I started reading about it. It says 'Already use GoodRx? You'll save almost 40% more when you sign up for GoodRx Gold.'


This link shows how to check prices, but you probably already knew that.

In addition to the deeper discounts, enjoy the convenience of not having to compare prices or shop around. One card offers you one low price at any Gold participating pharmacy.

That's worth a lot, right there because I've had GoodRx coupons and had to run all over town trying to find a store that accepted it. Even if the coupon had the store name right on it, they might not accept it.

 

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

I have not heard of 'GoodRX'.

My healthcare insurance is provided by my employer [US Navy], and they have a mailorder pharmacy where I get all my meds.

 

[Sunset]

We have found, just with the coupons that anyone can print off the goodrx website https://www.goodrx.com/

That we sometimes pay less for the drugs, than with our insurance
Never had an issue at Sam's club.

Very annoyingly, Costco won't take coupons if you have insurance, unless the insurance does not cover it.
There was a large savings involved so this really bugged me.

So we printed off a goodrx coupon for a 90 day supply, since our insurance wouldn't cover 90 day supply , only 30/60 day supply, Costco took the coupon

 

[travelover]

I have not heard of 'GoodRX'.

My healthcare insurance is provided by my employer [US Navy], and they have a mailorder pharmacy where I get all my meds.

Very helpful.

 

[cynicalbuthopeful]

I have had very good success with GoodRx for medication for my dog -- yes, I said my dog. Was able to use it at Safeway and at Sam's for substantial savings.

 

[imoldernu]

The basic reason for my own interest, is that we currently pay $1600 for a an RX plan. Upon checking with a friendly local pharmacist, though GoodRX was a little (20%) higher on some, on others it was about the same or less.
We kept the other plan, so we could check out the prices over the course of a few months, and so far, it looks like we'll save about $1000 by changing.
Not bad.
Still not sure about getting the lowest price, without on-line comparisons.

 

[MRG]

The basic reason for my own interest, is that we currently pay $1600 for a an RX plan. Upon checking with a friendly local pharmacist, though GoodRX was a little (20%) higher on some, on others it was about the same or less.
We kept the other plan, so we could check out the prices over the course of a few months, and so far, it looks like we'll save about $1000 by changing.
Not bad.
Still not sure about getting the lowest price, without on-line comparisons.

One thing I have noticed is sometimes GoodRx prices can change by significant amounts. All have gone up. I had one that went from $100 a month to almost $300.

 

[imoldernu]

I have searched for the answer about changing prices... with,without the GoodRX Gold... Thing is that with multiple prescriptions for jeanie and me, searching every prescription every time we renew, thaen comparing it to our prescription plan is early impossible. Our healthplan, no longer shows a formulary with prices... and it means a phone call to them to get the current prices (which also change by the month.

This is a very, very, very.... dirty game. Just read that a person recently promoted to CEO of a major plan... stayed in office for two years, and retired with a salary and bonus of 37 Million dollars...

 

[njhowie]

The basic reason for my own interest, is that we currently pay $1600 for a an RX plan. Upon checking with a friendly local pharmacist, though GoodRX was a little (20%) higher on some, on others it was about the same or less.
We kept the other plan, so we could check out the prices over the course of a few months, and so far, it looks like we'll save about $1000 by changing.
Not bad.
Still not sure about getting the lowest price, without on-line comparisons.

Check WellRx - works similarly to GoodRx. For us prices are better than GoodRx.

 

[big-papa]

We have found, just with the coupons that anyone can print off the goodrx website https://www.goodrx.com/

That we sometimes pay less for the drugs, than with our insurance
Never had an issue at Sam's club.

Very annoyingly, Costco won't take coupons if you have insurance, unless the insurance does not cover it.
There was a large savings involved so this really bugged me.

So we printed off a goodrx coupon for a 90 day supply, since our insurance wouldn't cover 90 day supply , only 30/60 day supply, Costco took the coupon

Is that new? We have insurance our our local Costco happily accepted the goodrx coupon - that was about 8 months ago.

 

[njhowie]

Very annoyingly, Costco won't take coupons if you have insurance, unless the insurance does not cover it.
There was a large savings involved so this really bugged me.

Then tell Costco that you'll get it filled with another pharmacist who won't give you a hassle. Costco is there for you, the Costco member, not for giving you a hard time. Costco doesn't have a monopoly on prescriptions, and they certainly aren't always the cheapest.

We previously had wife's prescriptions filled at CVS through our medical insurance. When we found that WellRx was 80% cheaper using the pharmacy in the supermarket just down the street, we switched. The supermarket didn't care about insurance vs. WellRx. In fact, they took the codes off the WellRx coupon and entered it in to their computer system in place of the insurance, so now it automatically applies the WellRx discount/pricing.

 

[Sunset]

Is that new? We have insurance our our local Costco happily accepted the goodrx coupon - that was about 8 months ago.

We only joined Costco this year, as our close local Sam's closed. While we like Costco better (seems much more popular, cleaner, happier workers), this incident about the prescription was a surprise, and was about 2 months ago.
Maybe it was just the pharmacist, (who knows maybe they make more money by refusing the coupon?).

 

[imoldernu]

So here's what I think about the GoodRX Gold plan...

It gives a reduced price... yeah... okay... but when I'm picking up the prescription Abinex and paying $16 with my GoodRX Gold Plan, the guy behind me is waving his GoodRX coupon for the same drug that will only cost $12.

The GoodRX website doesn't answer this question. It simply says that the "Gold" plan saves money.

So I have to go online, and look up 6 prescriptions for a special coupon... Then go to my Healthcare plan and call to see what their prices are... (for each of the 6 prescriptions)... then go to the pharmacy to see what the actual price of the GoodRX Gold Plan will be. (Because the GoodRX Plan is not always as low than the coupon price.)

Then... repeat the same process for my DW.

Someone once wrote to me on ER... "I don't have any idea of what you're talking about,.... but if it makes you happy.....

Except when one single drug on my list can cost between $454/mo. and $136/mo.

I don't think the pharmacist even understands this

 

[Sue J]

www.RXsaver.com is another good one for coupons. Works just like GoodRx.

 

[Brat]

FWIW: You don't need to be a Costco member to use their pharmacy.

 

[Ronnieboy]

Here is a decent article about how discount cards work and what you are giving away when you use them:

Are discount cards too good to be true?

It goes into a bit of detail on the ins and outs of companies like goodrx and the old adage that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Someone is getting it in the shorts and as the article explains it is usually the pharmacy.

Granted most people will say, "Who cares its not coming out of my pocket" but they are the first to complain that they aren't getting the service they have been in the past because the pharmacy had to cut staff or maybe even close.

It is also funny when you explain to the customer that if they use their discount card that saves them $2.50 it doesn't go towards their deductible. "Oh, I never hit that anyway" they reply. Fast forward 10 months then they are pissed off because they have just been prescribed a $500 trade name drug that is still $490 on their discount card and would have been a $30 copay on their insurance had they met their deductible which they would have met if they had just used their insurance anyway

or the next best comment, "Goodrx says it is $14.00 why is it $29.00" well because you put in metoprolol immediate release and not metoprolol extended release which is what you are taking or you printed the one for Kroger and you are at WalMart

 

[CaptTom]

Here is a decent article about how discount cards work and what you are giving away when you use them:

Are discount cards too good to be true?

That article was pretty one-sided, and in places, downright inaccurate.

...Most retail businesses have 50% markup – gross profit margin. In pharmacy, a hard day’s work could result in single-digit markup on goods...

I'm gonna call BS on that one. Sure, small gift shops and the like try for that 50% "keystone" ideal. On the other end of the spectrum, supermarkets and big-box stores make low, single-digit markups.

The bottom line is this: The US consumer knows we're being massively ripped off. I had one prescription which it turned out wasn't covered by insurance. The doctor's office called it in to usual pharmacy. The pharmacy then called to say it would cost over $1,000. The same prescription, through GoodRX, was under $20.

Now, I don't really care who's ripping me off. I just know I'm not going to pay $1,000 for a $20 medicine.

Maybe there are simply too many greedy corporations in the pharmaceutical supply chain with their fingers in the pie. Untold billions of dollars are being sucked out of consumers' pockets and vacuumed up by big corporations and the politicians in their employ. The system is broken.

Yes, I feel bad for the small pharmacies who were squeezed out. We haven't seen any of those around here for years. But I also feel bad for all my co-workers who were laid off from the MegaCorp I worked for over the years. I've never seen an article suggesting we should be crying for them, or (god forbid) spending extra money to save their jobs.

As for the big corporations, I don't really care which one wins. Let them fight it out on price. That's how the market works.

 

[jazz4cash]

I've been helping my brother who will be 80 this year and he is a vet. He gets great healthcare from the VA including free prescriptions. Apparently he misplaced his meds and they offered him a prescription but he has to pay. I downloaded the GoodRx app and it says the cost is $7-19 depending on which participating pharmacy we choose. I'm thinking this can't be possible but we choose the $7 shop and they send a text saying the script is ready and it's almost $700 with no insurance. I go to pick it up and the pharmacist sees me holding my phone and asks if I have a coupon. Then she has me read off the 4 codes and the price comes back as $7.01. How can this be? I ask about the cost with my BCBS and she says probably $180 or so. I've been lucky with no pricey scripts to buy so far but maybe in the future this is a better option than the insurance we're paying for. Are these one-time discounts or is it on-going?

After reading the very one-sided article I'm wondering just how much info I probably gave up when I downloaded the app. It probably thinks I'm 80 years old with my brother's health history.

 

[njhowie]

Are these one-time discounts or is it on-going?

Ongoing.

A couple years ago, on our ACA plan, I was disturbed that a generic drug DW takes was costing ~$70 every three months at CVS, which was a significant increase from our previous ACA plan. I found WellRx (same model as GoodRx) and the cost was ~$15 for the same prescription.

When DW first took the WellRx coupon in to the supermaket to get it filled, they entered the codes in to the computer and kept them there instead of the drug plan codes from our ACA plan. A couple days ago she had the prescription refilled again (we're on a private plan now), and just to be safe took another print out of the WellRx coupon and the pharmacist said she didn't need it, it was still in their computer system.

After reading the very one-sided article I'm wondering just how much info I probably gave up when I downloaded the app. It probably thinks I'm 80 years old with my brother's health history.

We only print out the coupons from the websites, never created a log in, never downloaded any app - they let anyone just look up a drug and print the coupon.

 

[frank]

I buy a prescription with my part d insurance and the cost was 412 mo., said hold on and I will check around. found it on goodrx for 139 mo. , I thought why so expensive because it went generic last year. finally ended up buying it from canada for 89. for 3 months.

 

[travelover]

..........I'm thinking this can't be possible but we choose the $7 shop and they send a text saying the script is ready and it's almost $700 with no insurance. I go to pick it up and the pharmacist sees me holding my phone and asks if I have a coupon. Then she has me read off the 4 codes and the price comes back as $7.01. How can this be? I ask about the cost with my BCBS and she says probably $180 or so........... .

Stick around - someone will be posting shortly that the pharmaceutical companies are not screwing us and it is all a big misunderstanding.