Last week, we talked about many of the senior discounts that are available. These cover a wide range of areas, including retail, travel, and accommodation. The discounts are powerful ways to decrease the cost of living and to make life just a little bit easier.
But, for many people, medication is an even more critical topic. Seniors often rely on multiple medications, which need to be carefully managed. The cost for these medications is often substantial. There are various ways to decrease medication costs, such as shopping around and being wise about when to use insurance.
In this list, we’re looking at just one of those options, discounts on medication.
As with regular discounts, some of the stores in this list are franchises. Individual franchise owners may choose to offer the discounts or not – so availability will vary depending on your location. It’s always best to double-check by phoning stores or talking to pharmacy staff members in person.
Paid Programs
AARP. It costs $16 each year to be an AARP member, less if you pay for multiple years at once. The program easily pays for itself, offering many discounts that you couldn’t access otherwise. This is due to the size and scope of AARP, which gives them considerable bargaining power.
For medication, AARP has a Prescription Discounts Card. This offers an average of 61% savings on many medications, including brand name, generic and specialty medications. It specifically covers those medications that your current insurance does not account for. The discounts extend to the spouses and dependents of members.
Exact discounts vary dramatically and the card may be more useful to some people than it is to others. Still, it can be worth looking into.
AAA. This service also offers a prescription savings card. It provides around 24% savings on prescriptions. The card itself doesn’t cost but you need to be a paid AAA member to have access to it.
Kmart. Kmart offers the Pharmacy Savings Plus Club that costs either $15 per year for a household or $10 per year for an individual. The program provides sweeping discounts on certain medications. You can talk to a pharmacy rep or look on their site to see which prescriptions are covered.
Walgreens. Walgreens offers a Prescription Savings Club. This one costs $20 for an individual to join or $35 for families. Discounts provided range dramatically but can easily be hundreds of dollars for just one type of medication. People in Washington State cannot currently become members but this is the only location restriction.
Free Programs
Rite Aid. Rite Aid offers an RX Savings Program that is free to join. This offers savings of 15% or more on various generic and brand name medications.
CVS Pharmacy. Like Rite Aid, CVS has a free savings program – called ExtraCare Pharmacy & Health Rewards. You can get this the first time you fill a prescription at a CVS store. The card doesn’t offer discounts directly but it provides various bonuses and the chance to earn rewards. The program also provides coupons and these can help decrease your medication costs.
Family Wize. Family Wize offers a prescription savings card that can be used at various locations. You can use the card through their app or have a printable version emailed to you.
America’s Drug Card. This is another free card that can simply be printed and used. You can also just rely on the app if you prefer. It is accepted at more than 80% of pharmacies in the United States (and its territories). Savings are typically between 15% and 55%.
American Legion. The American Legion Prescription Discount Program is less powerful but it is another free option to consider. Average savings are around 20%. American Legion also provides a mail-based medication program that could decrease your costs further.
If you know of any programs we missed, please let us know in the comments and we’ll update this list.
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