Lower Your Prescription Costs

Participating in a prescription drug plan is one way to help cut your pharmacy costs and make getting your medications easier.

What is a Prescription Drug Plan?

Prescription drug plans are supplemental insurance plans that cover prescriptions only.

For individuals: If your health plan doesn't provide enough prescription coverage, you can purchase an individual prescription drug plan for added support.
For Medicare enrollees: Original Medicare (Parts A and B) pays for your doctor and hospital visits, not prescription medications. To cover your prescription costs, you can add a Medicare prescription drug plan (Part D) to your Medicare coverage.
For Medicare Advantage enrollees: Most Medicare Advantage plans (Part C) include prescription drug coverage (Part D). However, you can join a separate Medicare drug plan with Medicare Advantage plans that can't offer drug coverage or choose not to.

How Can I Lower My Prescription Drug Costs?

Here are a few ways you may be able to reduce what you spend on prescription medications.

Ways to Save
Way to Save	How it Saves
Buy Generic	Generic drugs cost up to 80% less than their brand-name counterparts. Ask your doctor if any of your prescriptions can be filled with a generic alternative.
Use the mail for maintenance medications	A Mail Service Pharmacy program can help you save on maintenance medications (drugs taken daily to treat chronic conditions like high cholesterol).
Use drugs on the plan's formulary (also called a drug list)	Medications covered by your plan are listed in your plan's  drug formulary, including generic and preferred brand drugs that may save you money. If a specific medication isn't in your plan's drug formulary, your doctor may be able to substitute a generic drug, or another brand of drug designed to treat the same condition.
Use programs like RxSaver and HoyMeds	Save on medications not listed on your formulary or out-of-pocket coinsurance. You may qualify for a rebate through the drug manufacturer for expensive, brand-name drugs with no generic version.
Use your plan's preferred pharmacy	A preferred pharmacy has an agreement with your prescription drug plan provider to offer medications at a lower out-of-pocket cost.
Take advantage of pharmacy rewards programs	Earn rewards for most purchases at major pharmacy chains (CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid) and redeem those rewards for savings on prescription drugs.
Use an health savings account (HSA) or flexible spending account (FSA)	These accounts help you use pretax dollars to pay for out-of-pocket healthcare costs, including prescription and some over-the-counter drugs.

Combining these options with a prescription drug plan can help maximize medication and pharmacy savings. Learn more about prescription drug plans with CareFirst.