One of the more negative side effects of switching jobs is that – once again – I have to go through the probational period before my new insurance kicks in. Thankfully, it’s only two months due to Treeline’s very generous offer of extending my old coverage by one month. Still, two months without insurance can be… shall we say - a nuisance?
Case in point: my daily medication prescription is very close to running out - I probably have a couple week's worth left. As most of you know, the price of drugs can be astronomical without insurance, so I prepared myself for the sticker shock that I just knew was going to hit me when I refilled it.
I found myself at the grocery store the other day, so stopped by the pharmacy to ask exactly how much it was going to cost so that I could start saving up for it. I must say, I was stunned at her reply.
Care to take a guess?
I take a pill and a half each day, so a 3-month supply is 135 pills. With the old insurance’s 3-tier drug program, I paid just $10.00 a month – or $30.00 for the entire bottle.
The cost without insurance for the same amount of pills was…
Wait for it…
FIFTEEN DOLLARS!
That’s right = $15.00!
I don’t even know what to say about that. I’m happy, of course. But come on: it’s actually LESS without insurance than what I’d been paying all along?
I suppose the lesson for everybody to take home here is = Check your prescriptions! You might actually be able to pay less by not using your insurance coverage!
I asked my sister in law the pharmacist about this. She said it is pretty common. The reason is that your insurance limits you to a 30 day round (unless you use their mail order) and by paying cash the pharmacy can give you a 90-day. Pharmacies rather dispense once at a lower rate. She says they suggest to many people to either ay cash of use he insurance pharmacy for this reason. Case in point, on my prescription, I pay nothing if I get via mail order otherwise it is $15 copay every 30 days. Stupid.
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