A question about costs of prescription drugs?

Question

I am really concerned about my brother's health. He lost his job several months ago and lost his health benefits as well. He is not in good health. He has high cholestral and high blood pressure. He was taking high blood medicine but stopped because he feels he can't afford the medicine. Does anyone have any sugestions as to what he can do to get the medicine at a reduced cost?

Answer 1

First, if his last prescription has any refills left, call the pharmacy and ask if a generic can be substituted and how much it would cost. Generics can be very much cheaper.

Second, since he has no health coverage and if you are in the US, apply to your local Department of Human Services office for Medicaid.

Third, Walmart has several generic cholesterol and high bloob pressure meds on their $4.00 prescription list ($10.00 for 90 day supply), but he would need a new prescription.

Fourth, you can look up the drug on the internet, see who makes it and visit their website.  Most drug manufacturers have  information on applying for assistance directly from them on their websites.



Fourth, visit  this site:

https://www.pparx.org/Intro.php

Since uncontrolled high blood pressure can cause kidney failure, strokes and heart attacks, it is truly important that he takes his meds.  Since he will most likely have to see a doctor in order to get a new prescription, consider helping him pay for the visit.

Answer 2

go online to yahoo, and type in free medicine, that might help i use to go to a place where they told you how to get free medicine from the makers themselves.

Answer 3

1) Find out if he's eligible for Medicaid, or if he can get job loss insurance through HIPAA.

2) look into COBRA continuation of his previous employer's group coverage. Although this can be expensive, it may actually be cheaper than alternatives if he's in bad health.

3) Ask a pharmacist about generic versions of his medications, or about prescription assistance from the drug manufacturers. The latter information may also be available on the manufacturer's website.

4) Ask a doctor about changing medications to something cheaper. Many medications can be substituted with similar drugs in the same category. Often they can be just as effective, or nearly so, at a much lower cost. It would be better to stick with what was working of course, but this would be better than taking nothing.

Answer 4

Sometimes working with the companies directly can take time, and if he needs drugs from various companies he would need to go through the same process for each company. Medicare/Medicaid is a good option, but can be backlogged when it comes to dealing with the paper aspect of things. Both of those diseases generally require heavy monitoring, which includes plenty of dr. visits and lab work.

If he doesn't have health insurance, he probably can't afford to go to a dr when he needs to be able to, and Medicare/Medicaid can be picky about paying for dr. visits. If the county that your brother lives in has a non-profit, "obligatory" hospital, that may be the quickest route for him to go to for care. These hospitals tend to have compassionate care programs that allow patients medical care (prescriptions and treatment) for reduced rates. Usually the big factor with these programs is that you need to live in the same county, but he would need to find out the specifics from the hospital. The only possible draw-back to this option would be that he would probably have to go to the hospital to pick up his medicine, but if it is free, or greatly reduced....

My sympathies in regard to your brother. The human body is fragile, and not everyone is blessed with perfect health. It is sad that people do not always know the true background of a disease before passing judgment on those afflicted with the disease. Those from minority groups (Native American, African American) have a much higher incidence (due to genetic tendencies) of high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Patients with these diseases can be at a perfectly fine BMI and have a healthy eating style.

Answer 5

High cholesterol and high blood pressure are most commonly caused by poor diet and a lack of excercise.

As he is unemployed he has plenty of time to start excercising more and he also should be buying and eating healthier food.  It's cheaper to buy fruit and vegetables than it is to eat McDonalds and most other fast foods.

The healthier he gets then the lower the dosages of medication he will need.  This alone will make it cheaper to obtain.

I also found this info which may be of some help.  Click on the link below