How do GoodRX.com and RXSaver.com work?

[LAS14]

Who pays the drug companies? Who runs these prescription coupon sites?

tia
las

[jberryhill]

1. By providing customers in volume -

https://www.ejovi.net/goodrx-make-money/

GoodRx is a marketing company that has partnered with a Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) or several PBM’s to generate traffic (sales). The PBM’s negotiate discounts with pharmacies and earn a transaction fee in exchange for sending the pharmacy customers. The marketer earns a transaction fee for helping the PBM.

...

Another way these marketers make money is by selling your data. When you sign up with the marketer you provide them with personal information. Additionally, when you have a prescription filled that information is sent to the PBM and the marketer as well. If you buy a cholesterol drug, the marketer could resell your data to a manufacture of cholesterol drugs as a lead. Or to a data broker who does the same.

[still_one]

2. What I find interesting is that the prices on GoodRx are many times equal or less

Last edited Tue Apr 9, 2019, 04:44 PM - Edit history (1)

than Part D Medicare plans for some drugs, including the Part D plans that are supposed to provide the mist benefits

Also, even among GoodRx different pharmacies can vary significantly in prices

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

7. Medicare Part D doesn't negotiate good prices with drug companies.

The negotiations are forbidden by law.

So, pretty much any plan, including simply asking the pharmacist for a lower price, will beat Part D's price.

Part D is a fucked up plan, passed by congress in the wee hours, after much graft by big pharma, buying congress and their staff.

[still_one]

8. Actually that is not accurate either. It depends on the drug and tier

I can show you for certain drugs you can save a thousand dollars on Medicare part D on the premium plan for welchol for example, and there are plenty of other drugs I can show you too

It isn’t as good as most private’s medical insurance through an employer though

[MineralMan]

3. When I used GoodRX, it was because I opted not to sign up for

Medicare Part D. GoodRX sent me a card that looks a lot like an insurance card. My pharmacist treated it just like an insurance card, typed in the codes on it and I got the lower price. He even called it my "insurance."

This year, I switched to a Medicare Advantage plan that required me to pay for Medicare Part D. I was penalized for the 8 years I did not have Part D, so my premium is $30/month more than it would have been had I signed up earlier. I did the math, and that $30/month was well worth it. Now, the co-pay for the three meds I take is $0.00, where they used to cost me about $200 for a three month supply, in 2018.

GoodRX works well, when it works. But, its discounts are not always as deep as they might be, especially for generics, these days. It's still worth a look, though, if you have high co-pays for specific drugs. It can be cheaper than what you'd pay with your regular insurance. You have to do the comparisons.

[customerserviceguy]

4. I'll be at Medicare age

in about a year and a half from now.

How do you find reliable information on Medicare Advantage plans? I know that the insurance companies that sell them all have information, but I am certain that this information is slanted in such a way as to make the company providing the information look better than competitors.

I had a GoodRX card, but never got a single discount out of it every time I presented it, so I just tossed it away.

[MineralMan]

5. It's all pretty competitive, really.

The Advantage plans all cost about the same, depending on co-pays and deductibles in the individual plans. Really, the most important thing to consider is the network a plan is associated with. You want it to include your regular doctors, if possible, along with a hospital you trust.

I chose the one I have because it is connected with the multi-specialty clinic I have been using for years. The vision and dental coverages in most of those, however, are relatively worthless. Pick a plan with co-pays you can live with and check the plans formulary for the medications you are taking. There are differences between plans on prescription co-pays.

I take three generic meds, and they have zero co-pays, which is great for me. If you take name-brand drugs, check the co-pays.

The other option, which costs more, is the standard Medicare Supplement, which doesn't have networks. Those are more complicated to figure out, but give you more flexibility.

[customerserviceguy]

6. Thanks

It's something I will have to look into next year. Hopefully, it will be easy. There is only one hospital in my area, but people say it's a good one. Maybe I should find someone in their billing department to ask which one they prefer working with.

At this point, I still have to find a physician in SC, I've still been going to my NY doctor on visits back and forth to move (and dispose of!) goods in the condo in NY. But, after this month's visit, that's going to come to an end.

[still_one]

9. I am assuming you are currently on a private or employer plan, and most likely GoodRx won't beat

That, however, you have to look up on a drug by drug basis

It is critical when you sign up for Medicare you choose a supplemental or advantage plan at sign up. If you don’t it may be difficult or more expensive to do so later

Whether to choose a supplemental or advantage plan I would start at the clinic you currently go to, and see hat plans they accept. From those plans I would then start looking for reviews of the various plans, cost comparisons, and pros and cons of each. You should also be able to contact Medicare for information, and help you select whethe4 an advantage plan or supplemental plan would be best for your situation. AARP gets a bad rap from som here, but they also are a valuable resource for such information. They push United Healthcare, but you can go to blue cross, Humana, or whatever suits your needs.

I have a supplemental plan with my wife, part F, and have never had any out of pocket expenses, or denied coverage for any test or procedure. However, the premiums are more expensive than an advantage plan, and I Need part D for drugs, and dental is extra. Most Advantage plans bundle those together, and are more cost effective, but you may be limited to where you can go with an advantage plan

Each person needs to decide what is best for their situation, what makes one person comfortable may not make someone else comfortable

[customerserviceguy]

10. Yes, I have heard that

I should sign up for the supplemental plan ASAP. Thanks, I appreciate the advice from the good folks here!

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. Also, use generics whenever possible.

I always do, Goodrx covers them, the savings are huge.

[still_one]

13. Yes they are, though some of the generics in the last year have gone up significantly, though still

significantly cheaper than brand name

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. I don't have Part D, nor any drug insurance.

When I needed one drug prescribed by my oncologist, it cost 2,000 a month.

I got it thru Goodrx for less than 30.00 a month. Took the med for 9 months then had to stop using it b/c side effects.

been using GoodRx ever since whenever we needed to use Wal-Mart, Wal-green for meds. they had a monopoly in this town.

recently a new local pharmacy has opened up, and their prices are 50 to 75% lower than the Wals,so that is where we go now and I don't need to chase down Good rx prices.

I knew my Goodrx savings was coming at a cost to privacy, but could not have affordthe drug at all without the coupons, so seems a fair trade, in retrospect.

i sure hope the republicans with pharmacy stocks are enjoying their profits.....'cause a change is gonna come at some point soon. the big pharmacy chains are gouging all of us.