How to Save on Prescriptions — 7 Ways to Cut Drug Costs

Generic drugs contain the same active ingredient, in the same dosage and form, as their brand-name counterparts. The FDA requires generics to be bioequivalent — meaning they work the same way in your body. The only differences are in inactive ingredients (fillers, binders, dyes) and price.

The savings can be dramatic. According to the FDA, generic drugs typically cost 30-80% less than brand-name versions. For example, the generic version of Lipitor (atorvastatin) costs about $10-20 for a 30-day supply, while the brand name can cost $300 or more without insurance.

What to do: Ask your doctor or pharmacist if a generic version of your medication is available. If your doctor writes a prescription for the brand name, most pharmacists can automatically substitute the generic unless the doctor has specifically written “dispense as written” (DAW). If your doctor insists on the brand name, ask why — in most cases, the generic is equally effective.

Also consider therapeutic alternatives — different medications in the same drug class that may have cheaper generics available. For example, if your prescribed statin does not have a generic, another statin in the same class might, and could work just as well for your condition. Your doctor can advise on therapeutic substitutions.

Prescription discount programs like GoodRx, RxSaver, and SingleCare negotiate discounted prices with pharmacies and pass those savings to consumers. These are free to use and sometimes offer prices lower than your insurance copay — meaning it can be cheaper to pay with a coupon than to use your insurance.

Prices vary significantly between pharmacies. The same medication can cost $8 at Costco and $65 at a nearby CVS. Discount programs show you the price at every pharmacy near you, so you can choose the cheapest option.

What to do: Before filling any prescription, check the price on at least one discount program and compare it to your insurance copay. If the discount price is lower, tell your pharmacist you want to use the coupon instead of insurance. Note: purchases made with discount coupons typically do not count toward your insurance deductible, so weigh the trade-off if you are close to meeting your deductible.

Nearly every major pharmaceutical manufacturer offers a patient assistance program that provides medications at reduced cost or completely free to patients who meet income eligibility requirements. These programs are significant: the pharmaceutical industry provided over $18 billion in free medicines through PAPs in 2023 alone.

Eligibility criteria vary, but many programs accept patients earning up to 300-400% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), which is approximately $43,740-$58,320 for an individual in 2026. Some programs have higher limits, and a few do not have income limits at all.

What to do: Search for your medication on the manufacturer's website or on aggregator sites like NeedyMeds.org, RxAssist.org, or the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA). Application typically requires proof of income (tax return or pay stubs), a prescription from your doctor, and proof that you do not have prescription coverage that would cover the medication. Most applications take 15-30 minutes and decisions come within 2-4 weeks.

The 340B Drug Pricing Program is a federal program that requires drug manufacturers to sell outpatient drugs at significantly reduced prices to eligible healthcare organizations. These include federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), community health centers, children's hospitals, certain disproportionate share hospitals (DSH), and other safety-net providers.

When you fill a prescription at a 340B-participating pharmacy or are a patient of a 340B-covered entity, you may benefit from substantially lower drug prices. The discount to the covered entity averages 25-50% off the wholesale price. Whether those savings are passed to you depends on the specific organization's policies — many community health centers do pass them along, especially for uninsured or underinsured patients.

What to do: Search for 340B-participating entities near you using the HRSA 340B OPAIS database (340bopais.hrsa.gov). Community health centers are often the most accessible option. You may need to register as a patient to access 340B pricing. If you are uninsured or on a high-deductible plan, the savings can be significant.

Most insurance plans offer a mail-order pharmacy option, and many charge lower copays for 90-day supplies ordered through mail compared to 30-day supplies from a retail pharmacy. The typical structure is that you pay two copays for a 90-day supply instead of three — an automatic 33% savings on copays.

Independent mail-order services like Cost Plus Drugs (Mark Cuban's company) take a different approach: they sell generic medications at cost plus a flat markup (typically 15%) plus a $5 pharmacy fee plus $5 shipping. For many medications, this results in prices far below retail or even insurance copays. For example, a common blood pressure medication that costs $30/month at a retail pharmacy might cost $4.50/month through Cost Plus Drugs.

What to do: Check your insurance plan's mail-order pharmacy for 90-day supply pricing. Also compare prices on Cost Plus Drugs (costplusdrugs.com) and Amazon Pharmacy. For maintenance medications that you take regularly, the convenience and cost savings of mail order often make it the best option.

Every insurance plan maintains a formulary — a list of covered medications organized into tiers. Lower tiers have lower copays. Understanding your plan's formulary is one of the most effective ways to reduce prescription costs, because moving from a Tier 3 or Tier 4 medication to a Tier 1 or Tier 2 alternative can save hundreds of dollars per month.

A typical formulary structure looks like this:

What to do: Download your plan's formulary from your insurer's website. Search for your current medications and note which tier they are on. If any are on Tier 3 or higher, ask your doctor if a Tier 1 or Tier 2 alternative would work for your condition. If there is no lower-tier alternative, ask your doctor to submit a formulary exception request (also called a tier exception or coverage determination) — this is a formal process where your doctor explains to the insurer why you specifically need the higher-tier medication, which can result in it being covered at a lower copay.

Beyond the strategies above, several additional programs can reduce your prescription costs depending on your circumstances:

• Medicare Extra Help (Low-Income Subsidy)

  If you have Medicare Part D and limited income (below 150% FPL, or roughly $22,000/year for an individual), you may qualify for Extra Help, which pays most of your prescription costs. Savings average $5,300 per year.

• State pharmaceutical assistance programs (SPAPs)

  26 states operate their own prescription assistance programs with varying eligibility requirements. These can supplement Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance coverage.

• Pill splitting

  For certain medications, you can ask your doctor to prescribe double the dose and split the pills in half. Because many medications cost the same regardless of dose strength, this effectively cuts your cost in half. Not all medications can be safely split — ask your pharmacist which ones are appropriate.

• Manufacturer copay cards

  For brand-name drugs, manufacturers often offer copay cards that reduce your out-of-pocket cost to as little as $0-25 per fill. These are different from patient assistance programs — they work alongside your insurance to cover the copay. Note: copay cards are generally not available for Medicare or Medicaid patients due to federal anti-kickback rules.

• Inflation Reduction Act protections (Medicare)

  Starting in 2025, Medicare Part D has a $2,000 annual out-of-pocket cap on prescription drug costs. Additionally, insulin is capped at $35 per month for Medicare patients, and the list of drugs subject to Medicare price negotiation is expanding each year.