If you take prescription medication, you might have decided to sign up for a prescription discount card. After all, these are often free or cheap to join, and they can typically help you save quite a bit of money on the medicine that you purchase every month anyway. If you’re still pretty new to using one of these cards, you might have some questions, and you might need a little advice. For example, you’ll probably be interested in knowing the following things before using your prescription discount card for the first time.
1. You’ll Need to Have Your Card With You to Purchase Medicine
Generally, you will need to have your prescription discount card with you when you head to the pharmacy. You might receive a card in the mail, or you might be able to print it out. In some cases, pharmacies will allow you to display your prescription discount card on your smartphone, but you might want to call ahead and ask about whether or not this is something you can do when purchasing your medicine.
2. You May Want to Check With the Pharmacy
One of the good things about prescription discount cards is the fact that you can often use them at your favorite pharmacy. You don’t usually have to worry about all of the same restrictions that you have to worry about through your health insurance provider, for example. However, you should still call ahead to make sure that your preferred pharmacy does accept your prescription discount plan.
3. You’ll Need to Have Your Prescription
Don’t assume that you can just take your prescription discount card to your pharmacy and ask for the prescription medication that you need. As would be the case if you were to pay for your prescriptions in a different way, you will still be required to have a prescription from your doctor or another qualified healthcare provider.
You do not have to tell your doctor that you will be using a prescription discount card to pay for your medication. Your doctor should simply write your prescription and give it to you to take to the pharmacy or send it to the pharmacy that you want to patronize.
If you’re worried about how you are going to afford to see a doctor to get your medicine in the first place, you should know there are options. There are some doctors who will charge you based on a sliding scale, depending on your income level. There are even free medical clinics out there. Just as you can use an RX discount card to help you save money on your prescriptions, you can also sign up for a medical discount card that might help you save money when you see doctors and other healthcare providers as well. You can also look into government-sponsored insurance if you are a low-income individual, or you can seek insurance through your job or a health insurance marketplace.
4. Medicine Savings Can Be Significant
You could be wondering whether or not it’s actually worth it for you to sign up for a prescription discount card since you might not think you will save much money. Of course, this depends on the specific card that you use and the medications that you’re buying, but you might be surprised by just how much you can save.
5. There May Be Additional Ways to Save
It’s true that you can often save quite a bit of money by using a prescription discount card alone. However, you can sometimes use your prescription discount card with other methods of saving. Sometimes, these cards can be used on generic medications, for example, which are often already quite a bit cheaper than name-brand medications. In some cases, you can use your prescription discount card along with manufacturer’s coupons, which you can sometimes get from the manufacturer’s website, writing the manufacturer, or even asking your doctor. Someone at your preferred pharmacy can let you know whether or not you can use these discounts together and can help you save as much money as possible on all of your medications.
It’s true that medicine can be expensive. However, as long as you know these things and use a prescription discount card, you might be able to save a considerable amount of money on the medications that you need each month.
