If you were given the opportunity to get your prescriptions at a lower cost, but had to mail your prescription to a pharmacy & get your med's sent to you in the mail...would you?

I have to answer that question based on the assumptionj that I didnt have a drug plan

yes I would

I think I actually have that option with my current health plan but have never used it.

Why? You got some meds that fell off a truck? :D

I'd do it. Some people I work with have that benefit with their supplemental medicare. Mostly it's the adult children or whoever is the legal guardian of the person who decides to do it that way, to save money. I don't think it is worth the inconvenience if your parent has multiple prescriptions, and a residential facility is responsible for supervising the parent's medication routine. Too many things could go wrong. If you are taking care of your own parent or child or if the medication is just for yourself, I think it would be relatively hassle-free and worth the savings.

The process works ok but you do have to reorder refills quite early and often wires get crossed with payments if the months overlap at all. They pretty much all use the cheapest method of shipping, so it can be slow, and someone must be present to sighn for it. Out of necessity, I have had to call up the mail order pharmacy and demand that something be done because Mrs. so-and-so is going on her 2nd day with no whatever-the-drug. Many of them are affiliated with national drugstore chains, so they will make four or so "courtesy" doses conveniently available through the local store to hold over till the prescription arrives. They do deduct the four doses from the next refill ordered, so if notes and adjustments aren't made on your end, you have the same problem next time, only sooner in the month. If you pay the local pharmacy for the four doses, keep your reciept, because you will need it for proof that you paid, not the insurance company. Geez, I didn't think I would have that much to say about it. Oh well, just in case someone is *really* interested.

I can totally understand why all you Americans complian about the cost of drugs in the U.S. I've been investigating it recently, and the difference is un-f***ing believable! Your drugs usually cost more than twice the price, and as for some of the drugs I compaired, up to three times as much! I honestly can't understand why politicians let the profiteering continue when "right next door" the still profitable drug companies charge what the law allows.
I'd simply not be able to take the meds I take if they were purchased in the US in US$'s!
Come visit Canada and bring your scrip, the snow's mostly gone by now.
Regards,
Greg

Well *someone* has to pay for all the unethical marketing. :D

My prescription of AdderallXR for 30 day supply $185.00
My son's prescription of same but lower dose $ 97.00
Absence of brainfog and disciplinary notices priceless

None of the drug companies "right next door" invent anything.

I honestly can't understand why politicians let the profiteering continue when "right next door" the still profitable drug companies charge what the law allows.is Canada totally awash in drug advertisements? I would guess a large part of what we're paying for is all the marketing.. on the few non-digital channels I watch, nearly all the ads are for meds. drug companies pay off our politicians too, and who can blame them? it's obviously working. :p
None of the drug companies "right next door" invent anything.they do invent things, US media just doesn't cover anything Canadian unless it's negative or directly affects our country. I can't cite examples, though Gregster probably can.

I voted no. it's much more convenient to walk down to the pharmacy and get a script filled in 15 mins than wait days for some warehouse in Texas or wherever to ship them.

Do Canadians have ADD drugs that are secret in the US? Do Canadians have any drugs that are secret in the US? Advertising makes drugs expensive but not soda or candy or paper towels? The same media that always tell us how cheap drugs are in Canada is keeping information about Canadian drug inventions from us?

What is the Strattera situation in Canada?

Do Canadians have ADD drugs that are secret in the US? Do Canadians have any drugs that are secret in the US?I have no idea what you're getting at, but does any country have drugs that are "secret" to any other country? I would guess not, unless it's some secret government project, and that seems unlikely.

I haven't seen an advertisement for candy or paper towels in ages, but ingredients and manufacturing for soda are incredibly cheap and we buy it in huge quantities. I know research takes some money and of course drug companies profit hugely, but meds would cost less with fewer advertisements if their prices were lowered accordingly..

plus, drug companies have loads of representatives wandering the country, treating doctors to dinner and giving them truckloads of freebies. I'd imagine that costs some money..

The same media that always tell us how cheap drugs are in Canada is keeping information about Canadian drug inventions from us?like I said, our media only covers things Canadian when they're negative or they affect our country. when was the last time you heard them report that a French company had happened upon a great new drug, or South Africa was developing a way to make inexpensive vaccines? you'll never hear about those from our media because they're absurdly US-centric.

Originally posted by soc
it's much more convenient to walk down to the pharmacy and get a script filled in 15 mins than wait days for some warehouse in Texas or wherever to ship them.

I don't disagree with you, but this poll had little to do with convenience and everything to do with reducing the COST of prescription meds.

I've been in discussions with a large Rx company, about offering people discounted meds through my website. The reason why this is so important, is so many with ADHD (and other disorders) have little or no insurance coverage, and thus, pay through the nose for prescription medications.

If most ADDers and others at this forums are any indication of interest, perhaps I'll set it up. I guess the results of this poll will tell how many at the forums really feel about this?

BIG, it's nice that you're trying to do this. :) I must admit I would have answered yes if my prescriptions weren't covered by my parents' insurance. right now convenience is more important than cost, but very soon I'll be paying for meds on my own, and then a deal like the one you're proposing would be awesome.

my only concern would be high shipping costs (for something of such importance) might take a huge bite out of our savings.

I think each person has to weigh the issue of cost vs convenience. For me right now the mailing option I have through my insurance company only covers maintance meds. My AD/HD meds are not included because they are a controlled substance. How ever the SSRI that I take would be covered. Since I am lucky enough to have insurance coverage I pay a reasonable co-pay for my meds.

I have looked info the mail option and the process to to begin receiving the meds by mail has mutliple steps. For me at the moment the cost of the meds does not out weigh the lack of convenience.

It I did not have coverage or had a high co-pay then I am pretty sure that this option would be of more interest to me.

Not as much drug research gets done in Canada due to the patent laws here - not the drug costs. The patent time is shorter in Canada - and it does hurt Canadian research - there is no question about that! The difference in drug cost between the two countries goes to the drug companies to offset marketing costs, and of course profits. Maybe the drug companies pay their employees more in the US and they likely have more people employed (in marketing departments) than in Canada - all of which hurt the Canadian economy. I think the drug companies may delay the release of drugs to Canada to prevent cross border shopping when a new drug is "HOT" like Strattera, which is still not available in Canada, but will be soon. This is also not good for the Canadian citizen, but the benefits of drugs for 1/3 or 1/2 the cost certainly outweighs the risk of having to wait a year or two for the newest drugs to ship to Canada, IMHO anyway.

Quote from Gene 1:
Advertising makes drugs expensive but not soda or candy or paper towels?

Advertising makes soda, candy and paper towels expensive, too! It's all over our commercial TV, and most of it is hooey, including the need for germicidal paper towels and towels with cartoons on them. We pay for those ads through our purchases. Try comparing the prices of CocaPepsiDietRite with the store brands. Advertising makes the difference. And every year there is less competition for candy and paper towels. My printer tells me there are only three competing paper companies any more. Think how much candy companies spend to outdo competitors, at our expense. There's Nestles, Cadbury, Hershey, Mars, and Russell Stover. (In the domestic non-chocolate, gum and mint categories there are also Wrigley and Kraft/Nabisco.

But eating and drinking those "treats" is more nearly discretionary than using life-sustaining prescription drugs, right?

Drug company reps visit your doctor's office and pass our the freebies, including baskets of food during the holidays, pizza lunches for the whole office, fresh flowers, pens, neckties, pads, tissues, and biggest of all, trips to "seminars" wrapped in a week in the Bahamas or Hawaii.

Never see all the commercials showing a man newly-able to pass a football through a tire? Get that message? You are paying to see that couple "dance" again, thanks to a drug you can ask your doctor to prescribe for you. Me? I'd rather just be able to go to a website and see the drugs lined up in a spreadsheet, with price comparisons as clear as an article in Consumer Reports.

Got allergies? Incontinent? Tired at the end of the day? Is your nose running? Take a look in any magazine, and there are more ads than there are for most things except, perhaps, makeup and packaged dinners. You pay for this.

Give me single payer universal insurance. I'll pay higher taxes. Canada has the right idea, and if you look at the costs in Canada, you can see it. Our government doesn't even have the right to negotiate lower drug prices on behalf of those on Medicare. That's the Bush & Co way of keeping insurance company folks and drug company strategists happy (and sending in the campaign contributions).

You wouldn't believe how much medicating a couple costs, when one has 18 prescriptions. Why, Lamictal costs my husband $191 per month, and that's AFTER insurance has paid the other 2/3 portion. There's no alternative. They've got him by the short and curlies.

Advertising! Freebies my doctor gets and I don't? "Disclosure" that is less than full? The uninsured getting shafted? I say I see it and I say the heck with it!

And after getting rather off the topic, I say I WOULD get drugs by mail if it were not too complicated for my husband to do it without leaving home. If it were too complicated, it would be just one more huge responsibility for me.

Thank you, BIG, for asking the question.

I'll be following up with the Rx company next week and will let you all know how things go! If others are intererested in this type of a program...please vote!

Thanks!

That is very cool, BIG. I thought it was just a hypothetical.

Big,
I would love to get my ''scripts." at lower cost.
Without health-ins. cost is 'unbelievable'!

By the way, ACE, I agree with you wholeheartedly!
The prescript. drugs business here in the US is a 'racket'!
Pure gravy for the drug companies!

What a cool idea, BIG! I'm not sure how it would work, logistically, since my ADD meds are a controlled substance. My doc is nice enough to write me 3 months' worth of scrips at a time, but each is dated, "fill on 4/17/04", "fill on 5/17/04", etc. I'd have to be on the ball every month to make sure everything was filled on time.

My health plan covers the med (though the copay is higher than other drugs), so this may be a moot point for me. But I'd love to hear what you find out!