Are you paying more for your prescription medicines

Are you paying more for medicines because of the choice of the pharmacy?

Depending on which store you buy your prescription drugs from you could be paying quite a bit more for your prescription drugs.

Saving Money on Prescription Drugs – Switching Pharmacies Can Save you Money. Even if pharmacies are located side by side they may charge different prices for the same medicine.

We all assume that just about all pharmacies in your neighborhood would charge the same when it comes to prescription drugs. When you buy prescription drugs from a pharmacy you are paying for:

1.      The cost of the medicine plus

2.      An added charge for dispensing the drug

While the charge for dispensing the drug may vary slightly between different pharmacies the cost of the drug one would assume should be the same. The dispensing fee I always felt was the charge to pay for the pharmacist’s services plus the stores profit.

Price comparison between pharmacies

I had a prescription filled for a drug called Nasacort on January 20^th 2009 from Shoppers Drug Mart a popular pharmacy with stores across Canada.  The total cost came to $40.14. Here is the breakdown:  

·         Cost of drug: $30.29

·         Fee: $9.85

I had the same prescription filled again on February 16^th 2009 from a pharmacy located in a store called ‘The Real Canadian Superstore’ which incidentally is located directly behind Shoppers Drug Mart store. I was surprised when the cashier told me the total was $33.85. Here is the breakdown:

·         Cost of drug: $25.25

·         Fee: $8.60

So Shoppers Drug Mart had charged me $6.29 more than the pharmacy at The Real Canadian Superstore for the same drug, from the same manufacturer and for an identical dose. The only difference was the price. Shoppers Drug Mart had charged me around 20 percent more!

Cost of prescription drugs can vary considerably amongst pharmacies!

One would think that Shoppers Drug Mart would have the same buying power as it is a big chain of stores to buy their drugs from manufacturers similar to the price paid by other pharmacies.

It would appear that Shoppers Drug Mart was adding a profit margin to the drug and showing that as part of the cost price of the drug. They charge a higher fee for dispensing a drug but I don't see any problem with this as this fee is clearly stated on the receipt. What I find a problem with is the higher cost of the medicine at their store.

I realize that many people have prescription insurance and don’t seem to care what they are charged. However on the other hand there are hundreds and thousands of people who have to pay for their prescription drugs from their own pockets.

If you happen to be one of those who have no choice but to pay for their families’ prescription drugs, then its best you shop around for a pharmacy that does not overcharge you. Believe it or not there is a price difference even if stores are located side by side on the same street.

Next time you go to get a prescription filled, don’t just hand over the prescription but ask first how much this is going to cost me. Shop around and you may end up saving money. Twenty percent can add up to a tidy sum over a period of time.

When I am told the price of something is the cost price I believe that to be the cost price paid by the retailer. When markup is added to the cost price, then the price cannot be said to be cost price but should in my humble opinion be classified as the selling price.

Perhaps pharmacies that add markups to drugs should state this clearly in their receipts to customers by showing:

1.      The Cost of the Drug

2.      The Dispensing Fee and

3.      The markup they are adding.

Adding a markup and showing that price as the cost of the medicine I believe is misleading. I realize pharmacies need to make money also but I always assumed that the fee that they charged was the part that represented their service charges and profit margin.

Insurance companies who foot the bill for their insured’s and even tax payers who eventually foot the bill for prescriptions by supporting programs like Pharmacare in British Columbia should be concerned about overcharging for drugs.

Drug companies usually are the ones to be blamed for the high cost of medicines, however may be the retailers selling these medicines to the public are also the ones who are responsible for higher drug costs. Sometimes when I look at my prescription receipt that shows the cost of the medicine as $3.99 and the fee as $9.85 I start to wonder.