Saturday, 24. July 2010
Are you a victim of having to take multiple prescription drugs each month in order to stay healthy and live longer? The reasons that people have to take prescription drugs are many and include depression, anxiety, heart disease, high blood pressure, cholesterol problems and many more. Are you tired of paying expensive prices for prescription medications and wish that there was an alternative?Now, there is…we have all seen the ads for buying medication online, telling you that purchasing generic prescription drugs can save you money. Well it’s all true. By purchasing generic prescription drugs you can save money and if you buy medication online you can cut your costs even more. Generic prescription drugs do not carry a brand name therefore it saves you money. It does exactly the same thing as a name brand, but since it doesn’t have the brand name on it, it can be sold at a cheaper cost. If you are looking to save money on your monthly medications, whether it is generic or name brand then you need to look into the prescription drug prices that are offered through online pharmacies. Online pharmacies give you the additional benefit, allowing you to buy medication online considerably cheaper than at your local drugstore. Online prescription drug prices tend to be less because they are purchased in larger quantities versus a store pharmacy that only purchases small amounts of the prescription pills to meet their short term demand. Online pharmacies and drug companies buy massive quantities generally at wholesale prices, so they don’t have to make a large profit and this gives them a chance to in turn share the savings with you. There are a number of companies that will take your money for prescription medicines that you need and then take weeks to get the product out to you which can create a problem, so when trying to determine which online company is right for you make sure to do your research. Research the companies to find which one meets your needs. Can they get your medicines to you promptly and are their prices cheaper than in your local pharmacy? By taking time to answer these simple questions you are putting forth the right effort to find the best online pharmacy for you. All the online pharmacies offer competitive pricing so make sure you look around to find the best prescription drug prices for your needs.
Posted in Articles by Prescription Savings -
Friday, 28. May 2010
okay, so here is the deal, with all this healthcare talk all over the place it got me thinking. My husband and I own our own business, and therefore to buy personal health insurance for our family, the amount is outrageous! for a family of 4 for a decent plan, it cost us 650 dollars a month, plus a 25 dollar copay each time we go, and if anything major happens, we have to meet a 5000 deductible first. Prescriptions however only cost us 10 dollars, no matter what it is. However, we are a fairly healthy family. My children only go for their yearly checkups, and if they get an infection that just will not go away on its own. I only go once a year to the girly doctor. My husband goes once a year for a checkup. So, about 6 years ago, we dropped our insurance, we have not had insurance for 6 years! and this is why. for one year, we stuck our 650 a month into a savings..and when it came time for us to need something medical, we took it out of that savings and paid out of pocket. We called around to all the doctors in our area and within a 20 mile radius, and found one who understood we were paying cash from our own pockets and therefore, he gives us a discounted price for your normal basic run of the mill things..checkups, call in prescrips, etc. As for dental, it was way to expensive to begin with, we in turn also called around to dentists for our children at first only, so they could have a yearly check up. Why did we do this? because we never ever went to the doctors! our 650 was being wasted because we never barely used it! we were astonished to see that after a year we had saved up roughly 7800 dollars, and only used 1000 of it, which meant a savings of 6800 dollars…now after 6 years? we have about 30,000 saved…and we have not had to use it for any major health problems. With dropping our insurance we knew we had to insure our health, and that of our childrens..so we began to eat healthier, and we made sure our children as well as ourselves took very very good care of our teeth. We buckled down on our excercising and eating right, dropping all bad habits, smoking, drinking, sugary sweets (we still have the occasional sweets) and that also saved us money..at the time cigs were only 2 dollars a pack..but it does add up! so here is my question..what if everyone did this? what if everyone in america…dropped their healthcare? and only paid the doctors who worked for decent prices out of pocket in cash? and if we began eating healthier and diminished bad things? what would happen then? what would the health insurance agencies do? what would the other medical doctors who charge and arm and a leg do? Just something to think about is all I’m saying. Right now..my husband and I are only 29 and 33…if we continue as we are, we stand to save 204,000 dollars by the time he’s 63 and I’m 59..add the interest rate to it that our bank gives us, and we have decent amount of money. We have talked about if something big pops up, like broken bones, and such, or illness, but our doctor has assured us that he can guide us in those situations, what to do, where to go if need be. My point is …if a good percentage of people did this, especially those who are well off? and could afford to do it this way? would the prices not come down? to make it more affordable for everyone? I can tell you in six years, we have not had a huge problem. We had the birth of our 2 year old, I went to a midwife, the whole thing cost us 10k, alot yes…but we had it saved already, midwife is not the most common pick today..but I can tell you my experience was equal to that of the birth of my 8 year old in the hospital, in fact it was a bit better, more comforting really. Not for everyone..but again..what if a large enough percentage of people followed along?
rrm….what coverage is that? and how does it work? I haven’t seen something like that, but then again, we haven’t gone searching for any in the time being. Any info you could give me on would be appreciated. Like, what does it cover? and are their deductibles, only certain hospitals to go to? etc. Thanks for the info!
michel, not to mean honey, at all…but that is kind of one of my points on the buckling down issue, we do have to be more vigilant about ourselves, more aware of our surroundings, it causes us to be that way when we have no coverage..which would mean…I would never ever, under any circumstances, pour hot oil into any container..doesn’t mean I’ll never have an accident, it just means I am much much more vigilant about me and my children.
Posted in Answers by Prescription Savings -
Monday, 10. May 2010
I have a Kaiser HSA medical plan with my employer. We our small company began the medical insurance for all the employees, we all recieved a notice stating that $98.00 a month would be taken out and a HSA (Health Savings Account) would be started. That was July 2007 and I have yet to get my boss to do this!!! IT IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!! Is there anything I can do legally to get my boss to complete this task? I do not have a health benefit person or an HR person in our company to go to about this. This not the first item my boss slacks on, and I know it wont be the last. I am now in collections with my insurance carrier becasue I cannot afford to pay $700.00 every time I go to the doctor. I already pay the full co-pay and full prescription price. The remaining balance is what I owe to Kaiser since no one takes out the monthly premium out of my check. HELP!!
Posted in Answers by Prescription Savings -
Monday, 22. March 2010
Will the dems new Drug price negotiation act be any exception?
The misguided proposal before us today to put the government in charge of negotiating prescription drug prices does not serve the interests of seniors. Government controls will lead to restrictive formularies, denying seniors coverage for the drugs their doctors prescribe. While seniors will have fewer prescriptions to choose from, they will not realize savings from this reduction in prescription options. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) affirmed that government negotiation will only yield savings if access to medicines is restricted.
H.R. 4 will limit seniors’ choice of plans and access to necessary treatments; what’s more, it will stifle innovation. In examining ways to control the costs of prescription drugs, we must not forget that innovations by pharmaceutical companies lead to the development of newer and better treatments. Price controls create barriers to pharmaceutical innovation that can hurt patients and slow the potential for innovative therapy discovery. Some estimates find that almost 200 new drugs would go undiscovered over the next two decades as an indirect result of federal price negotiations.
We all want to ensure our seniors can get the prescriptions they need at the lowest cost. The debate before us today is about who we think is most effective in negotiating with the drug companies to achieve this low cost. We do not need to speculate on the answer to this question. The current program of senior choice and market competition has already lowered costs by forty percent in one year. In contrast, the CBO has said that the proposal to move toward socialized medicine will not save seniors any money unless access to needed medications is limited. I cannot support limiting access and choice for the 66,000 Medicare Part D beneficiaries in my district and as such strongly oppose H.R. 4.
Posted in Answers by Prescription Savings -
Monday, 15. March 2010
Do we really need a supplemental policy and a drug program. I’m paying more for prescriptions on the bush drug program than someone without insurance. When I add up medicare supplemental and drug program I’m paying out over $7,000. a year, at this rate all my savings will soon be gone. Will I be able to go on welfare when that happens or should I just commit suicide which is cheaper?
Posted in Answers by Prescription Savings -
Tuesday, 9. March 2010
Our situation: Self-employed (husband is a contract-only self-employed software architect; I work for his business in an administrative capacity – so techinically, I am his “employee”). Two adults, two small children. All healthy.
Currently we pay for a PPOM that allows for 2 office visits/person/year + $35 co-pay. VERY LIMITED coverage (inpatient only + preventative care such as OB-GYN stuff and well care for kids). Individual deductible = $1000 per person/ $2000 per family, then 80% coverage to $15,000 (our max out of pocket); then 100% coverage. Premium totals over $5200/yr and increases about 18-21% a year (no prescription coverage, of course)
A year ago our accountant advised switching to HSA type health insurance because he said the write-offs would be much greater. Now he’s not sold on the idea. We’d like to better understand where the tax write-offs would be and what the potential savings are in switching (or not switching).
If we switch, the HSA type would cost about $900 less per year in premiums. Family deductible amount (there is no individual deductible) shoots up to $5800.
NO office visits covered. Preventative package would include “covered” services such as OB-GYN w/ mammogram; well-child care consisting only of $500 max limit for vaccinations for kids – but all out of pocket expenses, as they would fall under the deductible first.
We are a healthy family, but this past year we had some unexpected health set-backs (my husband broke his nose, and my son had a trip to the ER for something minor on a Saturday night ). I had a CT scan, which cost a bundle and turned out normal (thought I had a hernia). We spent well over $3000 ON TOP OF our premiums (this for a PPOM), and we STILL did NOT meet our $2000 family deductible!
What does and does not constitute as going toward the deductible is sometimes quite nebulous, it seems.
My question is: with the numbers in mind – should we switch? Or stick with the PPOM? And why?
Thanks to any insurance and / or accounting expert/professional who takes the time to give us some insight into this whole HSA vs. PPOM thing.
Posted in Answers by Prescription Savings -