‘Real Money’: Save Money on Prescription Drugs

Drug companies operate internationally, therefore, should you have a need for prescription medications, you should shop the international marketplace. Doing so will save you up to and, perhaps, even beyond 500% on the cost that you would pay for the identical drug if purchased in the United States.,

I can’t find the app on my phone. Can you tell us exactly what it is with the spaces and capital letters? Thank you!

Estelene Nichols

There’s one called GoodRX. Maybe the same thing on the Android market?

Where can I find the LowRX app for an Android device? Would be nice if a link was included to where the app can be downloaded… Awesome report!

$20k a month in prescriptions? Something doesn’t add up. Does Human Growth Hormone cost a ridiculous amount? If so, isn’t HGH an OPTIONAL drug and not medically necessary?

Why no link for ” Low RX App”; not a clue as to how to access this app; very disappointing follow-up to applicable news item.. i-pad only? what about the rest of the audience?? How can viewers access the app?? Googling found no applicable App that I can tell.

I couldn’t find the app either. Where is it at ?

I wish you had taken this story further. I am a double heart transplant patient & also happen to be on Medicare. Those of us on Medicare or any other government program are totally eliminated for ANY help programs through the manufacturers. Plus we are also not permitted to use the “transfer a prescription here” type coupons, which would give us a $5.00 to $25.00 gift card type rebate. My transplants were paid for by my private insurance, as I was 57 at the time. Medicare refused to allow my drugs to go through Part B of my Medicare coverage because they did NOT pay for the transplants, which saved them about $2,000,000. I believe we are being discriminated against & all of us who are organ transplants has a very difficult time affording our needed drugs, as all are tier 3, 4, & 5. If we could just get help with our immunosuppressants, we could possibly survive, but it is very rough, as we all have serious other ailments.

I am the administrator of a world wide support group for organ transplant patients & donors & medical personnel. Of course, we promote organ donations. But we all support each other as if we are family & we one of us die, we all mourn. You cannot split capsules to make them last longer. Personally, I had my medications stolen TWICE last year at 2 different nursing homes. My medications cost in excess of $25,000 per year.

I was the first in the world to receive 2 heart transplants in less than 24 hours.

NOW, here’s a story for you!

I think the news station made it up and there is no app to save money.. NOW THERE IS A STORY !!

I’m also looking for the Low Rx app. I have an Andriod phone and an iPad. I can’t find the app mentioned on this evening’s report and also your article on your website that says:

“2. Arm yourself with the Low RX App.
Did you know that drug prices fluctuate like gas prices? The app tells you what the average cost is for a particular drug and its generic, and arms you with the phone numbers of every pharmacy in your area. You can call other pharmacies to comparison shop. The app also shows discounts.
“You can get up to 75 percent off in some cases,” said Katz.”

My insurance i am forced to go through express scripts/ medco. I have all these savings cards and such. They do not accept them at all so told by them. so what can I do. I probably can save alot also. they told me nothing I could send them would they accept. My husband has parkinsons and some of his meds. don’t come in generic and even some of his heart meds. I am unemployed and these cards would help alot. let me know who I can contact on this situation.

Erroneous report – no such thing as Low RX app. ABC News, check it out!

I was told the pharmacy doesn’t accept any discount RX card because I’m on Medicare. Guess I’ll have go without medicine.

Also could not find the Low RX App. Would appreciate any assistance as last year with insurance co-pay I spent over $3000 on prescriptions.

Thank you and sorry for others but that I now know I was not alone in not finding the app.

“With the help of Michelle Katz, Cari and Andrew lowered their monthly prescription drug bill from $20,000.19 to $1,252.28, saving them $18,747.91. And that’s real money.”

Sorry, but I find this to be a bit ridiculous that anybody owing this much money would not do some research on their own to find lower prices. I also do not believe that ABC News helped lower a monthly bill of this size down as far as they say. The bills they showed also included hospital charges which is not really the same as retail pharmacy. Mixing hospital and communicty pharmacy bills together is a bit misleading. This figures does not even match the amount they stated on the news program. They said it went down to about $400/month. So why push Costco? Walmart, Kroger, Target all have $4 plans for over 300 different generics. These same chains will match other pharmacy’s lower prices, including Costco prices, while Costco will not match their $4 prices. Interesting, huh? Not only that, Costco does not always have the lowest prices on certain medications. As stated in the news program…different pharmacies have different prices on the same drugs. While the news program may have had some value, the questionable accuracy and ‘steering to Costco’ aspects of it represent questionable journalism IMHO. Also not stated by ABC News is that there are other important factors when choosing a pharmacy, besides price, that should not be ignored….such as the quality of pharmacist services, the services offered, friendliness and helpfulness, and ease of access, etc. It should also be mentioned that it is not wise to shop multiple pharmacies for different medications. Pharmacies can not protect you from adverse drug issues, such as drug interactions if you are not getting all or most of your medications at the same pharmacy. You can get the best of all worlds by asking the pharmacy that provides the best over-all package of services to match prices so you can get it all at one pharmacy.

Accessing pharmaceuticals internationally is generally not legal. In addition, it is very risky as such markets are are selling you fraudulent (fake) medications that do not contain the real medication in them and sometimes toxic substitutes. Good luck if you choose to venture out there.

What happens when you work for a company (one that owns wholesale bakeries from the West coast, all through the Gulf coast and up through the East Ccoast) that makes it’s employees use their mail order pharmacy for any long term medication you may be on for the rest of your life. If we use a local Pharmacy for more than the first original script and then refill it one time after you have no choice but to get a new 90 day supply script sent to that mail order company nad you have to use them from that point on OR you will be charged the full price for that medication from that point on. Alot of todays medications as you stated in your reprt last night are quite expensive and only the very wealthy can afford to purchase them. I believe this is a form of Bullying or Strong Arming their employees so they can (I believe this but it is NOT proven to be a fact) they must be getting some sort of kiock-back from that mail order company. Mail order can be a good thing for some but not having a choice of where to purchase our medications should be a right. What has happened to free choice. I wish someone would do an investigative report on that side of the cost of prescriptions.

I think ABC needs to research what they report better!! Cannot get the ipad app, plus I went to buy the Kindle version of her book, and it consisted of 5 pages for $9.99. I asked for a refund of the book, and will think twice about anything ABC reports.

I could not find the Low RX App for iphone 4. Did follow the website for needy and was able to get infornation on how to apply for assistance. Would really appreciate the app. Thank you for helping us find ways to save money on the things we need the most.

App not on iPad either. App website states only on “Passport”.

ABC is lucky to have an expert like Michelle Katz; I have seen her speak and read her book. She is passionate about helping others save money when it comes to health care. Her passion resonates when she speaks and shares with others. I only wish I could have heard what SHE had to say during the report. Additionally, Michelle would have succinctly articulated details that the reporter missed. Next time, let Michelle talk! Your viewers will connect. I hope we can see more of Michelle in the future. We all need an advocate like her!

A better segment would be for ABC to talk about fraud in the medical industry as this segment has clearly exposed (couple was overpaying by 98%!!!!) . next time send your consultant to DC to lobby the “wonderful” representatives and president to really take action on this pressing issue that is getting out of control.

Need to do more of this with Michelle. This is the kind of news that people really can use.

Sounds great, however my insurance – United Health Care -requires ALL maintenance presciptions be purchased through CVS pharmacy. So much for saving money!

I hope you will have more reports featuring Ms. Katz to tap her knowledge about reining in health care costs. It is frustrating that her expertise has to be funneled through your reporter. Please let her speak.