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Prescription medications can be essential for your health and well-being. You don’t want to skip out on a prescription for the sake of your finances. So, find out how you can handle prescription drug costs from this point forward.
Health Insurance
Prescription medications are often exempt from health insurance coverage, along with treatments for dental and vision care. However, your insurance plan might offer you some coverage for certain types of prescriptions. You can find out which prescription medications can get covered through your plan’s formulary. If you don’t have a copy of your formulary, contact your insurer and ask for one.
If the prescription drugs are listed on the formulary, you could get insurance coverage for them. Much like other insured treatments, you will likely have to pay a deductible and a copayment in order to access coverage.
What if you don’t have a health plan? You should try to change that as soon as possible. Going without health insurance is very risky since medical bills can be incredibly steep (especially without insurance coverage). If you are eligible for Medicaid, you can apply for it right away. You can apply for it at any time of year. Medicaid provides health coverage for low-income Americans. This coverage includes outpatient prescription drugs.
If you’re not eligible for Medicaid, you will have to wait to enroll in a healthcare plan through the ACA’s health insurance marketplace. The plan options can include coverage for prescription medicine. Open enrollment for these plans doesn’t begin until November.
Prescription Discount Plan
If your insurance won’t cover the prescription medication costs, you will have to handle the expense out of pocket. Instead of paying the full price for that medication, you can use a prescription discount plan to reduce the price and make it much more affordable. A prescription discount plan can give you up to 80% in savings.
A round of brand-name antibiotics could cost you over $100. A discount card could help you spend less than $50.
To get even more savings, see whether your doctor can prescribe you the generic version of the medication instead of the brand-name drug. Generic drugs should be just as effective as their brand-name counterparts. They will contain the same ingredients and have the same sideeffects. The main benefit of generic drugs is that they are often much, much lower in price. With the help of a prescription discount card, you can make that low price drop even further.
Emergency Fund
You should have an emergency fund to help you handle surprise prescription drug costs out of pocket — along with other types of emergency expenses, like home repairs and car repairs. With a substantial emergency fund, you can pay for your medication, even if your prescription discount plan or your insurance plan doesn’t offer you much help. You’ll still be able to cover the unanticipated expense and take care of your health.
If you don’t have an emergency fund yet, you should start building one right away. The sooner that you do that, the sooner you’ll have the financial protection that comes with it.
In the first few months of building your emergency fund, you won’t have much money inside of it. So, if you get hit with an emergency expense for a medical prescription, you will have to find a different payment solution. You could use your credit card. Or you could try to apply for a personal line of credit online. A personal line of credit can be a useful financial safety net that you can rely on when you don’t have enough savings. As long as you meet the requirements for this type of credit tool, you can submit an application for it. You just might get approved for it.
Whatever you do, don’t ignore your health for the sake of savings. There are ways to pay for those prescription medications!