How is prescription medication from Canada so cheap???

imasoftov

Thu, Sep 29 2016, 2:18 pm

sourstix wrote:

even though medicine in the usa is expensive the experts are in the usa. so I guess it goes bothe ways. socialized medicine wont offer you what the free world can give.

What are your criteria for a country to be part of the free world?

WhatFor

Thu, Sep 29 2016, 3:11 pm

I don't know. Israel has some of the world's leading researchers and they also have a socialized healthcare system.
I'm sure that there are those who argue that if billionaires can't extort the masses for billions of dollars then medical research will stagnate, but gee, I wonder who came up with that?

amother

Khaki

Tue, May 02 2017, 9:26 am

I know this is an old thread but the heading caught my eye.

I have no insurance so I pay out of pocket for any meds. My son, with a diagnosis of ASD, is on 1 mg of Intuniv daily. Because of his diagnosis he is on a disibility plan from Govt which does not include this drug. so every month it costs me close to $100.00 to give him this much needed drug. Costco has the cheapest pharmacy fees but still. And b/c it's a fairly new drug there is no generic on the market yet.

Very very unfair in my opinion.

Chana Miriam S

Tue, May 02 2017, 9:30 am

We live in Canada. We could not afford intuniv. He's on abilify now. We do not have free drugs here.

Chana Miriam S

Tue, May 02 2017, 9:32 am

amother wrote:

The Canadian government subsidizes the cost of many medications. That's why they are cheaper than in the US - because Canadian taxpayers are picking up part of the cost. Obviously, these drugs are not meant to be sold outside of Canada. I have no idea how these websites operate legally.

Not even remotely true

Chana Miriam S

Tue, May 02 2017, 9:33 am

amother wrote:

Canada has race controls on medicine. They have a review board that uses some kind of range in which prices of medication should be. US has no such thing.

Race controls? What even is that? Black people get subsidies? I don't think so.

amother

Khaki

Tue, May 02 2017, 9:33 am

andrea levy wrote:

We live in Canada. We could not afford intuniv. He's on abilify now. We do not have free drugs here.

I live in Canada too. Should have said that...

is Abilify and Intuniv a similar drug?

Cmon be nice

Tue, May 02 2017, 10:08 am

Try blink health. Sometimes prescriptions are cheaper there

amother

Khaki

Tue, May 02 2017, 11:29 am

Try blink health. Sometimes prescriptions are cheaper there

Blink Health does not service Canada. The title of the thread says - "canadian prescriptions ......."

imasinger

Tue, May 02 2017, 1:24 pm

Intuniv is the extended release version and is expensive.

The shorter acting version, guanfacine, is likely a much cheaper option for you. You can find out from your doctor how often he would need to take it.

Actually, Abilify is a lot more expensive for me than Intuniv. Go figure.

amother

Olive

Tue, May 02 2017, 1:42 pm

amother wrote:

Try blink health. Sometimes prescriptions are cheaper there

Blink Health does not service Canada. The title of the thread says - "canadian prescriptions ......."

Actually the original OP lives in the states. It was bumped up by someone in Canada, who didnt mention that at first

Fox

Tue, May 02 2017, 9:17 pm

My DH has Kleine-Levin Syndrome, and at various times, the out-of-pocket cost of his meds was as high as $1600. Here are a few tricks to try:

* Appeal, appeal, appeal. Make yourself an absolute and complete pest to your insurance company. We appealed every opportunity we got -- in our case, you could re-open an appeal after 90 days if you'd been previously turned down. So every 90 days, we filed the paperwork and started over.

* Contact the pharmaceutical company directly to see if they have any subsidy programs or will even provide you with a supply of coupons. We weren't able to get subsidized meds, but Teva Pharmaceuticals sent us a whole stack of coupons that lasted for months and cut the cost in half.

* Get to know the pharmacists personally. I took candy, cookies, and kugels to the pharmacy team on our local CVS on a regular basis. In turn, they helped us take advantage of every possible promotion, new coupons, changes in insurance coverage, etc. They also gave us hints for dealing with our insurance company, such as information about the fact that another company now covered the medication in question.

* Get in touch with the corporate sales reps for the pharmaceutical company. The pharmacist can give you his/her name. They can also be helpful in finding a way for you to afford the medication.

* Make sure your physician is active in helping you. The physician needs to be aggressive in communicating with the insurance company, and he/she also needs to pressure his/her pharmaceutical sales rep to find a solution or at least provide samples.

* Apply for assistance from your local Bikur Cholim. Most have some resources to give medication grants, and even $100 can make a difference.

Hatzlacha!

flmommy

Tue, May 02 2017, 10:22 pm

I live in the US and always but Retin-a from Canada. It is 1/3 the price for the same medicine. I know my sons ADHD medicine was not allowed to be sent from Canada so I imagine some drugs aren't allowed and some are.