Are online prescription drug coupons legit?

[Dulcimina]

I need to fill a prescription that will cost over $600 for a one-month supply. The generic is just a few dollars less. I found some sites via google, e.g.,goodrx.com and internetdrugcoupon.com that claim to reduce the price to as little as $254 for the generic at my local pharmacy.

I didn't have to sign up for anything. Is there some catch that I don't see?

[TreeTired]

yes yes yes!  (legit)

no no no!  (no catch that I am aware of)

except maybe purchases made with a coupon might not count towards your insurance deductible.
We recently had to purchase prescription drugs for a little girl who had no health insurance.  Internet coupons made a big big difference, and they worked.  Different coupons worked for different drugs.  I would walk into Walgreens with maybe 4 or 5 coupons, and they had their own codes that they would input at my request, and they were kind enough to enter codes and let me use the one that worked the best.   I had $68 list price prescriptions that I paid $18 with the coupon.  So, my experience was they worked and worked well.  You just have to scour the internet and try a few different ones.

oh, also, different pharmacies charge wildly different prices for the same drugs, so if you really want to make yourself crazy take the coupons and visit several different pharmacies.

[geekette]

I used GoodRX for a med recently - saved quite a bit.  It didn't go toward my deductible, though.

The price given on the website may not be accurate, though.  Mine ended up even cheaper.

[Dulcimina]

Wonderful! I don't even care about the deductible at this point! 

[TreeTired]

Wonderful! I don't even care about the deductible at this point!

Right,  and deductibles are irrelevant when you don't have any health insurance, but if you sit down and really think about it...  it is absolutely infuriating!   As far as I can tell the coupon isn't subsidized by the insurance company.    The savings must come from the drug company.  So why does your insurance company insist that you pay full price for a drug in order for it to count towards your deductible?   Makes no sense to me, as far as I can tell it's just another example of the insurance company screwing their customers simply because they can.

[ASquared]

Yes they are legitimate.  However they are not sustainable and will not always be available.

I don't know what kind of problem you are dealing with, but consider if there are alternatives - medicines, lifestyle issues, natural remedies etc.  Better for you and your bank account to not be spending that kind of money on rx's

[Dulcimina]

NC_MJ: I hope my plan is different.  I'll let you know if the cost ends up being applied toward the deductible. 

[Dulcimina]

Yes they are legitimate.  However they are not sustainable and will not always be available.

I don't know what kind of problem you are dealing with, but consider if there are alternatives - medicines, lifestyle issues, natural remedies etc.  Better for you and your bank account to not be spending that kind of money on rx's

An autoimmune disease that just went from mild to severe.  Trust me, I'm all over the alternatives.  I've been gluten-free then primal since 2012 ; did an elimination diet which showed I also have issues with eggs, so I stopped eating those two months ago; have temporarily stopped eating nightshades (this week); with the help of a naturopath, treated microbial dysbiosis; take appropriate supplements; get moderate exercise; switching up cosmetics to DIY as they run out etc.  With the exception of the nightshades which is too soon to tell, all of those things have helped in the past.  They are no longer working.