Coupons 

If one has Part D Rx, the manufacturers cannot help out with coupons.  One might consider dropping Part D or if you have Medicare Advantage Plan, finding one that doesn’t include Part D.  We CANNOT advise you to do this. It’s beyond our pay grade and we are mandated to tell you about the penalty if you don’t purchase Part D.  Scroll down for hints from one of our wholesalers on using coupons and not using your Part D Rx plan.

The intention for coupons is to steer patients away from cheaper generic alternatives and toward the brands that they produce. Experts estimate that brand drug manufacturers are spending between $3 billion and $6 billion annually on coupon programs. Anti-Kick Back and all. ^{HHS Report} Mfg safeguards might not prevent coupons for Part D Rx Legally, the use of drug co-pay cards and coupons by individuals with government funded health care and prescription drug benefits, such as Medicare and Medicaid, is prohibited by the federal anti-kickback statute.

(2) Whoever knowingly and willfully offers or pays any remuneration (including any kickback, bribe, or rebate) directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind to any person to induce such person—

(A) to refer an individual to a person for the furnishing or arranging for the furnishing of any item or service for which payment may be made in whole or in part under a Federal health care program, or SSA.gov

Here’s some hints from our wholesaler…

Coupons are allowed to be used in Medicare, but it is tricky. When a client uses a coupon, or a GoodRX or even the pharmacies billing costs (which are sometimes cheaper than the plan copay) the drug doesn’t get run through Medicare, it becomes a cash pay situation and it doesn’t go against the Medicare deductibles, donut hole,  etc.   So that is the negative.

I have many clients that have purchased drugs directly from the pharmacy to get a lower cost, and some that have used Good RX or even just googled their drugs and bought them online at a cheaper cost.

There are certain things that are much cheaper online, Progesterone is a big one that my female clients find cheaper online..

So, if the pharmacy will work with the client to help them find the lowest cost, there are alternatives for our Medicare clients. Not all pharmacies will do this however, so it is good to do some research on more expensive drugs to find alternative solutions.