I read with interest this Atlanta Journal-Constitution article on how prescription costs vary widely and that Internet-based pricing tools are not necessarily accurate.
That could be the understatement of the year!
The article suggests that, like for groceries, you should look around and find pharmacies and resources that can help you find the best deal for the same medications. It points to a Georgia website, www.georgiahealthinfo.gov, it mentions sites in Michigan and Florida, to name two, and suggests that New York State requires pharmacies to post the top 150 drug's prices (well, “post” may not mean web sites as I tried several including Price Chopper Food Markets and didn't see anything on pricing there). The article mentions the online tool Medicine Cabinet Advisor, which is similar to our EquivaMeds for BetterRxCard service which finds lower cost options, shows how much you can save and then provides a neat little report you can share with your doc.
It also quotes Adam J. Fein, president of the Pembroke Consulting research firm in Philadelphia, who states that drug pricing posted online isn't accurate (we couldn't agree more, and that's why we chose to not have one with our prescription drug discount card program).
Then this Atlanta Journal-Constitution article listed several examples of drug prices from various sources to demonstrate that drug prices are very different from one pharmacy to the next. And you won't always find the lowest coast at Wal-Mart or Target.
But I wanted to take this one step further, so I took their list and analyzed the lowest drug to each of the others. The result was that they found an astounding 917% difference between one pharmacy and another (see below).
| AJC Drugs Researched | Cost | Diff from lowest priced drug |
| Citalopram [20mg, 30 pills] | | |
| Wal-Mart | $4 | - |
| Costco | $6.90 | 73% |
| CVS | $27.89 | 597% |
| Walgreens | $22.99 | 475% |
| Celexa, [20mg, 30 pills] | | |
| Costco | $103.92 | - |
| Wal-Mart | $112.84 | 9% |
| CVS | $119.99 | 15% |
| Walgreens | $125.99 | 21% |
| Simvastatin [20mg, 30 pills] | | |
| Costco | $5.90 | - |
| Wal-Mart | $24.36 | 313% |
| CVS | $58.99 | 900% |
| Walgreens | $59.99 | 917% |
| Zocor [20mg, 30 pills] | | |
| Costco | $152.78 | - |
| Walgreens | $164.99 | 8% |
| Wal-Mart | $166.72 | 9% |
| CVS | $176.99 | 16% |
| Amoxicillin [500mg capsules] | | |
| Wal-Mart | $4 | - |
| Costco | $5.90 | 48% |
| Walgreens | $13.49 | 237% |
| CVS | $17.29 | 332% |
I would add to all this that not only are prices tough to get accurate online, but they also change on a daily basis. Which came first, inaccurate pricing tools or daily changes? Okay, not going there. I’ll just get a headache.
Economist Devon Herrick said prices are so different because they can. The author of the 2007 study “Shopping for Drugs” says that people don’t classify drug the same way as other shopping items, the ACJ said in their piece.
Point of all this being, caveat emptor; let the buy beware. And shop around.
