Health: Get the Lowest Prices On Your Meds and the Best Service from Your Pharmacist; Tips from Consumer Reports

Lisa L. Gill : Feb 18, 2019
Consumer Reports

CR's shoppers have found that asking "Is this your lowest price?" at a pharmacy can save them cash even with insurance. Pharmacists used to be bound by gag clauses that prevented them from bringing up other options unless you asked. While that restriction no longer exists thanks to legislation—long supported by CR—that was passed in 2018 by Congress, it's a good idea for you to take the initiative.

[ConsumerReports.org] Love Oak Pharmacy in Eastland, Texas, puts together individualized daily pill packs for customers with multiple prescriptions in order to reduce the risk that they will mix up drugs or skip doses. Asti's South Hills Pharmacy in Pittsburgh offers free home delivery, sometimes on the same day. And pharmacists at Hayat Pharmacy in Milwaukee speak a total of 19 languages, helping them to serve a diverse community. (Photo credit: Tbel Abuseridze-Unsplash)

Personalized care like that seems to be what people value in a drugstore—and where independent pharmacies often seem to excel. That's according to Consumer Reports' new pharmacy ratings, based on survey responses from more than 78,000 CR members.

Mom-and-pop stores earned high marks on such measures as courtesy, helpfulness, and speed of checkout and filling prescriptions, as well as pharmacists' knowledge and accuracy.

"People want to be treated as individuals," says Chris Antypas, Pharm.D., co-owner of Asti's pharmacy. "Independent pharmacists can do this because we are focused on the patient relationship."

Daniel Holt, 53, a CR member who says he's loyal to Suba Pharmacy in New York City, calls it a neighborhood gem. "I'd rather give my money to small, local businesses owned by members of my community," he says.

But powerful forces are threatening the more than 23,500 independent pharmacies across the US Mega-mergers among national corporations could disrupt the $453 billion retail pharmacy industry.

In June 2018, Amazon announced it would enter the prescription drug business with its purchase of the online pharmacy PillPack for $753 million. And CVS Health, one of the largest pharmacy chains in the US, purchased one of the country's biggest health insurers, Aetna. A merger between another major insurer, Cigna, and one of the largest prescription "middleman" companies in the US, Express Scripts, could further change how drugs are bought and sold here.

Still, "independent pharmacies historically have been really good at adapting when faced with competition," says Hashim Zaibak, Pharm.D., an owner of Hayat Pharmacy. Being small means they can make decisions and changes quickly based on what customers need, Zaibak says.

Mike Swanoski, Pharm.D., an associate professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Minnesota, agrees. "The owners live in these communities," he says, "and decisions about how to best serve their communities may be made due to a deeper understanding of the needs of their patients."

While independents land at the top of our ratings because of their customer service and speediness at filling prescriptions, that's not all you should consider when choosing a pharmacy. Other factors include cost, convenience, and the services offered. Below, our tips on how to find the best pharmacy for your needs, and how to get the most out of any pharmacy you go to.

Find a 'Preferred' Pharmacy

If you have insurance, your copay might be the same no matter which pharmacy you choose. But that's not always the case. Many insurers negotiate special deals with drugstores, offering lower out-of-pocket costs when you fill prescriptions at a preferred pharmacy.

Almost all Medicare Part D plans, and most of those offered by employers, now include preferred pharmacies, hoping consumers use them to save on out-of-pocket costs, says Stephen Buck, a former executive of the drug wholesaler McKesson and a founder of GoodRx, a website where consumers can download coupons to use in local pharmacies.

When people don't use one of those pharmacies, they pay an average of 36 percent more for their meds, according to a 2017 survey from the Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute.

For people with Medicare Part D, it could get tougher to find a preferred pharmacy, especially among independents. Last year about 4,000 of them declined to join preferred pharmacy networks for Medicare Part D drug plans, says Adam Fein, CEO of the Drug Channels Institute, a market research and consulting firm.

CR's tip: When choosing a drugstore, ask the pharmacist, your insurer, or your employer's human resource department whether the one you're considering is on your plan's list of preferred pharmacies. If not, ask how much more you would pay at a different store... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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