Can Good RX Save You Money?

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - As you prepare your family’s budget for the new year get ready to spend more for your medicine.

A new study suggests you’ll pay an average of 4.5% more for your prescriptions this year, but we found an app that could save you hundreds of dollars if you know how and when to use it.

Good RX says it can price compare similar to Amazon or Google when you’re buying prescriptions.

“It’s this network of thousands of prices that are coming to our network everyday, and it allows consumers to find the best price at the pharmacy that they want to go to,” explains Thomas Goetz, the Chief Research Officer of Good Rx.

Good RX says it takes in millions of new prices for drugs each week and publishes them on its app and website where you can search for a drug and an amount, and it gives you instant price comparisons.

Let’s say you were searching for the lowest price on 60 mg of Cymbalta. Type that in, and instantly you can see how much you’ll pay at Costco, Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS, using coupons the site provides.

It’s important to point out that Good RX doesn’t work with your insurance, you have to use it independently so it pays to do your homework and see which is cheaper your co-pay for a medicine, or paying out of pocket using the Good RX coupons.

“We found insurance is just not what it used to be for all sorts of reasons,” Goetz says. “Copays are higher, co-insurance puts people on the hook for more, people are just paying out of pocket more often. That’s where a solution like Good RX can plug the gap and help people find a more affordable way to get their medications.”

Good RX claims its prices beat insurance prices between 30-70% of the time.

“It’s a patch on a couple of bigger problems,” says Jim Carnes of low-income advocacy group Alabama Arise. Carnes says he cautions clients to be careful.

“Make sure you understand the term limits, the expiration date on the coupon and what your choices are when that occurs. And always consider other options along the way, like is the generic available,” Carnes advises. “We think just being a little more savvy and curious about the purported deal is the way to approach it.”

A bill just passed the house in October that would allow Medicare to negotiate the price of 250 drugs including insulin and cap out of pocket expenses for medicine, but it’s prospects look iffy in the Senate.