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by fencepost 1793 days ago
I used to be on that. I can't afford it because no insurance

If/when anyone runs into this regarding medications, be aware that even without insurance many pharmacies (at least in chains) have significant lists of medications available at very little or no charge. Companies like GoodRX can also lead to much lower prices, particularly on generics.

Meijer has free antibiotics and prenatal vitamins.

Walmart has a variety of medications for many conditions at $4 for 30 days and $10 for 90, as well as inexpensive insulin options (discussed here on HN within the last month or two - maybe not preferred fastest-acting options, but certainly better than 'rationing hoping I don't die')

Walgreens has a prescription savings club for $20-35/year that has 30-90 day supplies of generics at various price points between $5-15 for 30-day supplies and 10-30 for 90 day supplies

CVS has some kind of system that I didn't create an account to look at but is likely similar.

Costco has a Member Prescription Program and has all their medication prices available on the site, and the pharmacy can be used for prescriptions even without a membership.

Kroger has a prescription savings club linked to GoodRX that has prescriptions at $0/3/6/9, with a membership of $36/72 year individual/family.

None of these plans are going to cover the medications being advertised on TV, but they're going to provide coverage for a lot of long-term proven generics that treat conditions that have been around as long as humans have. They may not be AS effective (or perhaps they just lack marketing budgets), but if they weren't at least SOMEWHAT effective they wouldn't still be around as generics.

And if you've read this far and are interested in other information on keeping medical care less expensive, I highly recommend looking up the Arm and a Leg Show podcast for a lot of useful information.

2 comments

Thank you! I'm actually going to forward this over to her. This is super helpful.
Some of the newer antidepressant manufacturers offer income-based coupons that cover the costs of the medications, as well.

Although Prozac has been generic forever, and depending where you live, you might be able to get a 30 day supply for a few bucks. Walmart has it for $4.

The expensive part is regularly seeing a doctor for prescription refills. Depending on the state and her income, she might be eligible for expanded Medicaid, though.

This is what's known as doing the bare minimum to keep the guillotines put away