What to do When You Can’t Afford Medication
Medication can be very expensive, especially medication for mental illness. Lots of expensive research goes into those drugs, and the drug companies charge very high prices to recover their costs.
Since costs can run upwards of $75/month for some medications, this can be a major problem if you are out of money or if you’ve got to take a lot of different medications together. Even worse is when you run out of money in the middle of a medication cycle and you might start missing doses. With some medication, such as SSRIs, missing doses can be very serious so there are some major health implications if you can’t afford meds.
There are a couple of things that you can do to get your medication if you can’t afford to pay for it. Some of them take a bit of work and patience, so it is a good idea to plan ahead and make sure that you always have a good supply. The last thing you want is to be on your last pill when an unexpected bill comes in.
I know of 5 ways to pay for medication, or get medication for free if you can’t afford it. Like I said, they can take a bit of work and some calling around, but they can work.
Private Insurance
Here’s a little known fact. Most private insurance plans have “emergency” funds that can be accessed. Generally these are for incidentals such as ambulances, etc., but they could also potentially be used for medication. I can’t speak for this, because I have only heard of it working one time, but if you are in a crisis, it never hurts to call your insurer and see if they have any resources that can help you.
Government Programs
Some governments provide assistance with paying for medication. Generally these programs are only accessible through doctors, so it would be a good idea to speak to your doctor and see if they can recommend any government programs. If you can’t reach your doctor, or you don’t have a family doctor, contact your local community services agency or crisis center and see if they can recommend any programs.
Drug Company Promotions
We don’t have these in Canada, but in some countries the drug companies can provide samples of certain medication. These samples generally provide a 2-3 month supply of meds. I know very little about these programs, but there is information on them at the participating drug companies’ websites.
Doctor’s Samples
You know all those cabinets in your doctor’s office? Know what’s in them?
Meds.
My doctor showed me one of his cabinets one day. It was full, from top to bottom, with samples of all kinds of medications from different drug companies. Every day, he gets more in the mail. He’s running out of places to put them.
If you are running out of medication, speak to your doctor. Chances are, he will have a few sample packs of your medication in his office that he can give you. You won’t get a lot, maybe a couple of weeks worth, but it’s a help.
Cross-Border Shopping
Some people are able to obtain cheap medication from online pharmacies. I don’t know very much about these, except that they exist. If you decide to go this route, be very careful.
Emergencies
So what if you try all these things, and nothing works out, and suddenly you are out of meds? There are a few things that you can do in this case. First, call your doctor. She may have some recommendations, or, as I mentioned above she may have some samples that she can give you. If you can’t reach your doctor, go to the hospital. They might be able to provide you with medication, but even if they can’t and things start to go wrong, they will be able to help you. Finally, if you can’t get to the hospital, call your local crisis center and tell them your situation. They might have some way of helping you as well.
If anyone else has any other tips on affordable (or free, free is good) ways to get medication, please let me know!
Anxiety Bipolar Disorder Depression Health Money money-medication
whitecoat responds:
Posted: March 15th, 2007 at 7:46 am →
If it’s just a question of being a few days late and a few dollars short, ask your pharmacist. If you’re someone we know well, and we know you’ll be good for it, we’re often happy to “advance” you some medication - usually 10 days to two weeks’ worth - and you can pay us for it later. I often do this for my patients who are on monthly support. Careful, though; burn me once, and I won’t help you again. I know these medications are expensive, but if you take ‘em and skip out on paying for them, it just transfers the expense to me, and although I may like you very much, I don’t want to pay for your medication.
iamscared responds:
Posted: April 3rd, 2007 at 1:47 am →
I honestly don’t know a lot about online pharmacies and their reputability, but I will say that a doctor was able to order a prescription online on a site for doctors (for my dog, actually, and I don’t know if any doctors are willing to do this for people) and it came out to approximately 1/3 of the cost that it would’ve been at a local drugstore. I totally agree that you need to be wary because there is undoubtedly a lot of shady business going on out there, but it may be an option that is worth looking into or even asking your doctor if they are willing to order medication for you. I would probably be researching it further for myself if I wasn’t going to become insured next month.
Scott Davis responds:
Posted: April 3rd, 2007 at 9:56 am →
Iamscared,
How those online pharmacies work is they sell “generic” versions of prescription drugs from pharmacies here in Canada. They’ve got some sort of system worked out where they “re-write” prescriptions; so you send them your prescription, they have a Canadian doctor re-write it, and then they fill it as if you were a Canadian customer and then mail you the drugs.
Personally, I would be very nervous doing this, since I believe that it is very important to have a good relationship with your doctor and your pharmacist, especially for psychological medication. And there’s always an element of risk when you buy something online. But I know people who have tried it, and they have saved quite a lot of money, so I guess it’s a matter of buyer beware.
Scott
Debra McGhee responds:
Posted: July 20th, 2008 at 8:42 pm →
The site Medfinder is a free site that specialized in finding reliable pharmacies with generic versions of name brands. I purchased all of my medications from there (generic Abilifyfor 20 cents a tablet for 10 mg strength, generic Lamictal 100 mg for 50 cents a tablet, Wellbutrin 300 XL (name brand) for 1.30 a tablet, generic Cympalta for $1 dollar for 60 mg, as well as my blood pressure medications. Even Provigil for 85 cents for 200 mg. If you cannot afford your medications or if your insurance company denies coverage, this site is a life saver. The manufacturers are huge multinational manufacturers meeting the standards of the World Health Organization. I hope this helps someone who would otherwise have to stop medication. The address is http://www.medfinder.com Susan