Health Insurances And Their Effects On Medication Costs
By: Abbey Grace Yap | Posted: 22nd July 2008
A lot of people in the United States, especially senior citizens, rely on their health insurances to get by with their
medical bills and prescription costs. However, recent surveys show that an all time high of 46.6 million American adults were without health insurance coverage[1]. This was said to be because of the decrease in employer-sponsored health insurance fueled by an increasing health care cost.
Fairly recently, many news articles on health insurance have surfaced regarding the people’s dissatisfaction to the quality
of service provided by the healthcare insurance provider. This added to the recent change in policy stating that health
insurance will no longer cover the cost of prescription medication. And with the continually increasing cost of branded
prescription medication, this news has triggered an alarm to the millions of people depending on their insurances to get by
with their prescription medication needs.
It is because of these changes that people have started looking out for more affordable ways to purchase prescription
medication. And because desperate times call for desperate measures, people have chosen to bite down on enticing but dubious
offers of low-priced prescription medications. Here are some of those enticing options:
1.Local discount drugstores.
These are land-based drugstores that sell prescription medications at low, discounted prices. Though the marked-down prices
can be difficult to resist, there is a possibility that discount drugstores may give you fake medications that could be
dangerous to use.
2.Foreign discount drugstores.
Most senior citizens have been reportedly seen crossing the borders to either Canada or Mexico to buy prescription costs with as much as 64% discount from the original price. Consumers should beware because buying prescription medications from foreign pharmacies, even if they’re just across the border, is illegal in most states. At the moment, only a handful of US states allow the importation of prescription drugs.
3.Internet-based pharmacies.
Pharmacies on the web sell prescription drugs at discounted prices with added benefits to its credit. Using online
drugstores, consumers can now purchase their prescriptions without having to leave the comfort of their homes. Orders are
delivered straight to the consumer’s doorstep. However, there are the risks of chancing upon an illegitimate online pharmacy, as well as a possibility that consumers may receive fake medications which can trigger allergic reactions and dangerous drug interactions.
Searching for a cheaper alternative to obtain prescription medications need not be dangerous, all consumers need to know are
some helpful tips to avoid buying from anomalous pharmacies. Here are some useful guidelines:
Ask for professional endorsements.
You can ask your doctor for a recommendation as to where you can purchase prescription medications at legally discounted
prices.Ask the authorities.
You can contact your local pharmacy board for a list of certified discount pharmacies that have agreed to meet the pharmacy
board’s specified qualifications. You can also ask your local government to see if they allow importation of prescription
medication from foreign pharmacies.
Visit the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) homepage.
Their official website shows a list of accredited web-based pharmacies that have been duly inspected and were deemed good
enough to operate and become a part of the Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites (VIPPS).
Buy only from pharmacies that ask for a prescription note.
The law requires all pharmacies to ask their customers to present prescription notes when ordering prescription drugs.
The writer, Abbey Grace Yap, is an active advocate for health consciousness and disease awareness. She possesses a deep
passion in discovering new health-related information and sharing it to her readers.Want receive Updates regarding our
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Tags: handful, borders, senior citizens, health insurance, medical bills, medication, prescription medications, insurance provider, dissatisfaction, prescription medication, health insurance coverage, quality of service, american adults, desperate measures, healthcare insurance, articles on health