I have been living in the US for almost 4 years, and am just now learning something about how to reduce some of my crazy medication costs. When I ran into a problem with my blood-pressure meds where the generics contained gluten so I had to pay extra for the brand name. At the time, I complained loudly about the increased cost, but no one mentioned to me that I should search the manufacturer’s website for discount cards – no one!

It wasn’t until my husband was told about a coupon that I realized that I should be checking for coupons for all my brand name prescriptions – I have a few – like the miracle drug, Horizant, that significantly reduces my neuropathy pain. I am just now learning that for a year, I can save – rather than paying $240/3 months, I could pay $25/mo or $75 / 3 months with a prescription coupon card from the manufacturer.

This is an area where having patient health literacy makes a big difference. If you don’t know to look, you don’t look. It never occurred to me that I could be saving that much money on prescription medication.

Now I’m going through my medication list and have promised myself that anytime I see a huge co-pay (meaning it isn’t a generic), then I will go to the manufacturer’s website and see if there is a discount card. That two-minute search can save me a ton of money.