Quote:
Originally Posted by mtdjed
We have Medicare Drug coverage for the very few drugs we are prescribed. Primarily Cholesterol and Blood Pressure. Periodically, or Physician changes our prescription. Most of our prescriptions have been zero. A couple of times the change has resulted in costs like $100 for 3 month's supply. Supposedly because a higher tier drug. Then we get exposed to services such as GOODRX which are free, and they offer a price like $10 for 3 months supply.
How do these companies make money when the company I buy my insurance from can't make money or so they indicate
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The company's formulary, the drugs they want you to take, are those with whose manufacturer's or importer's etc have negotiated a low price in exchange for higher volume sales, because you and other insured persons will use that pill.
For pills not on your formulary or on high cost tiers you are not getting much if any discount from the full retail price, which is very inflated. On the other hand goodRx and other online discount plans may have your medication and knows which pharmacy groups have bulk purchase discounts. You will notice that your GoodRx may have different prices at different pharmacies. Don't worry they are making money.
It is not unusual for your "copay" on a higher price med to be higher than the full cost to you to self pay using an online coupon. And this can change from month to month.