Pulaski

There should be an incentive to cut usage? ...... I've paid my insurance and dammit, when I go to see my doctor because I am sick, the least I expect is a prescription for antibiotics!

doconthemove

Check the latest news in UK where they say GPs should be fired if they prescribe too much abx!! Another reason I glad I left. Can't win

Pulaski

They're handed out like candy here. ...... Even more than steroids.

Bob

I don't know, but they do in the MA stores.

Also each prescription filled gets a stamp and 5 stamps gets a $20 coupon to the grocery store.

As for incentive to cut usage, there never has been. Doctors over subscribe crap all over the place here.

kins

Typically we've paid $4 to $6 for a month's worth of Sertraline (generic Zoloft) from Walmart. This is with piss poor insurance.

We've also never paid more than about $10 for antibiotics.

OTOH you might want to bring a load of Zovirax (or generic version) with you from the UK if you get coldsores. I've found that to be heinously expensive in the US even when we had excellent insurance.

mamasue

Publix also do free antibiotics, and free Lisinopril (blood pressure meds)

petitefrancaise

we have this one. It's pretty good, they cover most things with a copay of $5 or $10. My son's isotretinoin for acne costs $3k a month and if it's the generic then we pay $10, otherwise it's $100 co-pay for the brand name.

kodokan

I'm not sure ours has copays; it's a high deductible plan. But prescriptions can sometimes be a separate plan alongside, I think..? Dunno - none of us have needed to be prescribed anything since we moved here 4 years ago. Hence the high deductible plan making complete sense for us!

I expect I'll get plan brochures at some point, and will hopefully find out how it all works then.

kodokan

My 15 yr old has only recently become exposed to American TV drug advertising; we don't normally have cable, but it's in the hotel in which we're currently living, and he and I have taken to doing mocking sessions with HGTV.

My word, drug advertising is comical, isn't it, with its bizarre juxtaposition of 'make your doctor prescribe you this!' to 'but it might do this horrible thing to you'. He's been chortling his way through the most outrageous claims of side effects, from a sleep aid that 'may cause temporary inability to move your limbs... that's temporary paralysis! Paralysis!' to something the other day he heard that may cause 'possible death'.

doconthemove

Rather have that freedom rather than the rubbish the politicians and other non medical bigwigs throw at you in the UK

Pulaski

There was (is?) an anti depression drug that had reported side effects, as disclosed on the TV ad for it, that included disturbed sleep, tiredness, drowsiness, loss of appetite, and suicidal thoughts, which are pretty much a subset of the defining symptoms of depression. ...... How can you tell the difference between a "side effect" and an anti depression drug that isn't effective?

S Folinsky

Caremark/CVS is wonderful. Before had to use Express Scripts for longstanding prescriptions.

jjmb

So you pay $100, not 3k for your son's medication?

Just looked up isotretinoin as I remember my daughter being on an acne drug for a very brief period. Turns out it was the same stuff - Accutane although it not sold under that name any more in the US. Her doctor only allowed her to use it for a month and she had to avoid the sun, which was almost impossible in Texas. So she actually only used for a week or 2 as it was too impracticable for a teenage to avoid the sun. Pretty potent stuff. As it turned out her acne was hormonal, PCOS and adjusting her diet soon improved her condition plus the acne. Even now if she eats badly for a day or 2 the spots still come back.

scrubbedexpat091

If your on a generic you can get some pretty cheap, if no generic you can look at several hundred per month without insurance and any price in between, all depends on what your on.

Some pharmacies have a generic list where they are like $4 or $10 per month, but you'd have to check each chains list and see if your medication is on one.

Mine wasn't and without insurance, I was paying 350ish per month 5 years ago.

Wal Greens used to have some sort of pharmacy club you could join and gave a substantial price reduction on most medications, not sure if they still have it though, was a good plan for those without insurance or crap insurance.



Mine is now in generic and I am in Canada, but it's actually cheaper in the US then it is here, luckily the government in BC pay's for mental health medication (they don't generally cover prescriptions in full) but the cash price is 55 per month + 12 filling fee. I always find it amusing on the occasion when the filling fee is more then the cost of the medication, I had been prescribed an antibiotic (not by choice, I hate taking them but suppose gotta trust the docs) a couple weeks ago, and the 10 day supply was 5 dollars with a 12 filling fee, my wife has one 2.24 for a 30 day dose plus 12 filling fee.

scrubbedexpat091

They are not free here, but most are dirt cheap, but doctors seem to love prescribing them compared to the doctors I had in the US that almost never did.