Cost of Medicines
Jan 24th 2023, 11:33 am
#1
BE Forum Addict
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,705
Cost of Medicines
A note of caution to those that dont know.read on......
As an SNS patient or Private please be aware of the vastly different cost for the `same` Medicines in Portugal.
When you are issued with a prescription for pills from an SNS GP you will notice that it gives the name of the pill along with the maximum price you should pay. There it also says that the price is the maximum you should pay ............UNLESS you opt for a more expensive Brand. Considering NO brand is mentioned you assume that will be the maximum you would pay.......wrong !!!
But if not careful you may fall into the trap where, when you go to buy your pill, the price charged is higher than you thought it would be (by the max price you should pay, unless you opt for a MORE expensive option) on the prescription..
The reason this happens is that there are usually no end of different Brands that are approved for the same pill in the Portuguese Health Service, (like in UK) and the cost of these can and does vary considerably.
Always make sure before going to the Farmacia to buy, that you check the Brands available for the medicine you have been prescribed, using the POUPA RECEITA EMED app from Play Store.
Here you can search for the medication by name....and voila you will be asked how many pills,tablet or capsule (pill dependant) the strength, click through those fields and you will be presented with all brands offering what are all generics (maybe the Original manufacturer will be there and likely to be by far the most expensive).
The cheapest brand is first. Considering these are all copies of the original it matters not which one you buy,(and will not be shown on your prescription). So make a note of the 3 cheapest and when at the Farmacia, ask for one of those brands.......often you will find they will say .Oh we only have this,,and you find its double the price of the cheapest. But if you can wait, ask them to order for you for delivery the next day,,,,,they will do that.
For example, this morning I have a prescription for a drug new to me.
Now normally I do what I preach, but this time I did not.......the maximum price mentioned on my prescription says €2.46 for 56 blister. The chemist goes off with my prescription and comes back with the Generis brand (obv not the original)...the price....€5.48. When asked why, he says thats what we have in stock......rather than bugger about I bought it.
Returning home I looked at the app..for that drug there are 23 different brand names. ranging from €1.94 all the way up to €14.43 for exactly the same medication, and it can be much worse if you are not careful.
As an SNS patient or Private please be aware of the vastly different cost for the `same` Medicines in Portugal.
When you are issued with a prescription for pills from an SNS GP you will notice that it gives the name of the pill along with the maximum price you should pay. There it also says that the price is the maximum you should pay ............UNLESS you opt for a more expensive Brand. Considering NO brand is mentioned you assume that will be the maximum you would pay.......wrong !!!
But if not careful you may fall into the trap where, when you go to buy your pill, the price charged is higher than you thought it would be (by the max price you should pay, unless you opt for a MORE expensive option) on the prescription..
The reason this happens is that there are usually no end of different Brands that are approved for the same pill in the Portuguese Health Service, (like in UK) and the cost of these can and does vary considerably.
Always make sure before going to the Farmacia to buy, that you check the Brands available for the medicine you have been prescribed, using the POUPA RECEITA EMED app from Play Store.
Here you can search for the medication by name....and voila you will be asked how many pills,tablet or capsule (pill dependant) the strength, click through those fields and you will be presented with all brands offering what are all generics (maybe the Original manufacturer will be there and likely to be by far the most expensive).
The cheapest brand is first. Considering these are all copies of the original it matters not which one you buy,(and will not be shown on your prescription). So make a note of the 3 cheapest and when at the Farmacia, ask for one of those brands.......often you will find they will say .Oh we only have this,,and you find its double the price of the cheapest. But if you can wait, ask them to order for you for delivery the next day,,,,,they will do that.
For example, this morning I have a prescription for a drug new to me.
Now normally I do what I preach, but this time I did not.......the maximum price mentioned on my prescription says €2.46 for 56 blister. The chemist goes off with my prescription and comes back with the Generis brand (obv not the original)...the price....€5.48. When asked why, he says thats what we have in stock......rather than bugger about I bought it.
Returning home I looked at the app..for that drug there are 23 different brand names. ranging from €1.94 all the way up to €14.43 for exactly the same medication, and it can be much worse if you are not careful.
Jan 24th 2023, 11:53 am
#2
Forum Regular
Joined: Jun 2021
Location: North West England and Eastern Algarve
Posts: 125
Re: Cost of Medicines
A note of caution to those that dont know.read on......
As an SNS patient or Private please be aware of the vastly different cost for the `same` Medicines in Portugal.
When you are issued with a prescription for pills from an SNS GP you will notice that it gives the name of the pill along with the maximum price you should pay. There it also says that the price is the maximum you should pay ............UNLESS you opt for a more expensive Brand. Considering NO brand is mentioned you assume that will be the maximum you would pay.......wrong !!!
But if not careful you may fall into the trap where, when you go to buy your pill, the price charged is higher than you thought it would be (by the max price you should pay, unless you opt for a MORE expensive option) on the prescription..
The reason this happens is that there are usually no end of different Brands that are approved for the same pill in the Portuguese Health Service, (like in UK) and the cost of these can and does vary considerably.
Always make sure before going to the Farmacia to buy, that you check the Brands available for the medicine you have been prescribed, using the POUPA RECEITA EMED app from Play Store.
Here you can search for the medication by name....and voila you will be asked how many pills,tablet or capsule (pill dependant) the strength, click through those fields and you will be presented with all brands offering what are all generics (maybe the Original manufacturer will be there and likely to be by far the most expensive).
The cheapest brand is first. Considering these are all copies of the original it matters not which one you buy,(and will not be shown on your prescription). So make a note of the 3 cheapest and when at the Farmacia, ask for one of those brands.......often you will find they will say .Oh we only have this,,and you find its double the price of the cheapest. But if you can wait, ask them to order for you for delivery the next day,,,,,they will do that.
For example, this morning I have a prescription for a drug new to me.
Now normally I do what I preach, but this time I did not.......the maximum price mentioned on my prescription says €2.46 for 56 blister. The chemist goes off with my prescription and comes back with the Generis brand (obv not the original)...the price....€5.48. When asked why, he says thats what we have in stock......rather than bugger about I bought it.
Returning home I looked at the app..for that drug there are 23 different brand names. ranging from €1.94 all the way up to €14.43 for exactly the same medication, and it can be much worse if you are not careful.
As an SNS patient or Private please be aware of the vastly different cost for the `same` Medicines in Portugal.
When you are issued with a prescription for pills from an SNS GP you will notice that it gives the name of the pill along with the maximum price you should pay. There it also says that the price is the maximum you should pay ............UNLESS you opt for a more expensive Brand. Considering NO brand is mentioned you assume that will be the maximum you would pay.......wrong !!!
But if not careful you may fall into the trap where, when you go to buy your pill, the price charged is higher than you thought it would be (by the max price you should pay, unless you opt for a MORE expensive option) on the prescription..
The reason this happens is that there are usually no end of different Brands that are approved for the same pill in the Portuguese Health Service, (like in UK) and the cost of these can and does vary considerably.
Always make sure before going to the Farmacia to buy, that you check the Brands available for the medicine you have been prescribed, using the POUPA RECEITA EMED app from Play Store.
Here you can search for the medication by name....and voila you will be asked how many pills,tablet or capsule (pill dependant) the strength, click through those fields and you will be presented with all brands offering what are all generics (maybe the Original manufacturer will be there and likely to be by far the most expensive).
The cheapest brand is first. Considering these are all copies of the original it matters not which one you buy,(and will not be shown on your prescription). So make a note of the 3 cheapest and when at the Farmacia, ask for one of those brands.......often you will find they will say .Oh we only have this,,and you find its double the price of the cheapest. But if you can wait, ask them to order for you for delivery the next day,,,,,they will do that.
For example, this morning I have a prescription for a drug new to me.
Now normally I do what I preach, but this time I did not.......the maximum price mentioned on my prescription says €2.46 for 56 blister. The chemist goes off with my prescription and comes back with the Generis brand (obv not the original)...the price....€5.48. When asked why, he says thats what we have in stock......rather than bugger about I bought it.
Returning home I looked at the app..for that drug there are 23 different brand names. ranging from €1.94 all the way up to €14.43 for exactly the same medication, and it can be much worse if you are not careful.
