Make your own Prescription Card and Save at the pharmacy

Here is a quick and easy way to save some money at your local pharmacy without having to buy an Rx plan or signup for anything. Make one for yourself or friends and family.

There are quite a lot of free prescription discount cards available on the internet. This instructable shows you how to go about finding one that works well and saves a decent amount of money at your local pharmacy.

If you have access to the internet and a printer then you can have an active prescription card in hand by the time you finish reading this.

Step 1 Create the card online.

Fist of all there are many free Prescription cards online, some are better than others and I have tried a few. The one I have found that seems to work the best for me, is shown in this tutorial. However you can easily find one by searching for "United States Rx card" in any search engine. If you live in a different country, then alter your query accordingly.

Step one, Visit Free Rx Card to create your own prescription card. If the website prompts you for an access code, use "tb01" and you will be able to create your card. If this codes no longer works, then just "google" another one.

Comments

[whocantell]

How can I find out what pharmacies accept this card?

[xrobevansx]

the site reads: "Simply use the Location tool provided on this Web Site to locate a participating pharmacy near you! " WHERE IS THE TOOL????

[Browncoat]

Any way to do this kind of thing for dental plans?

[gehusi]

Oh one more thing. If you always want to save, seriously, ask for the generic if it exists. People usually suspect that I get paid to say that in the pharmacy. I don't. They are the exact same medications as the brand name, they have to be by law. Sometimes it doesn't make much difference, but I've seen people pay hundreds of dollars more for the brand medication. Generics mean you save money, and the pharmacy actually makes more money. The only ones who lose are the brand name manufacturer who overcharged before their patent expired.

[gehusi]

I've worked for Walgreens pharmacy for 6 years. As far as discount cards go, all we look for when you bring one in is an ID number (aka recipient number) and a group number. Most insurance plans we see have short abbreviations for their names, that are generally memorized, and vary by state (BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois is ILBC, Humana is HUMIL, Medco is PAID, etc etc). However, these cards would not generally be familiar to whomever you are dealing with at the pharmacy, and would also require a PCN and/or bin number. As long as all that is there, I wouldn't worry about the legality too much. We get paid the same whether you spend $100 or $60 on your medications, and from my experience no one would question you twice. At worst, the card would be rejected when we submit the claim (which takes place immediately upon entering the information), and we'd just hand you the card back and probably even apologize for the inconvenience. So save as much as you can...the industry is gauging you anyway, no matter how much you save.

[lemonie]

Convince me that this isn't SPAM L

[Mrs_Lynder]

SPAM is a canned precooked meat product made by the Hormel Foods Corporation. This paper Rx card tastes nothing like SPAM. :-)

[lemonie]

Well, I'm convinced (because you replied). L

[theRIAA]

i wasn't prompted for any access code... where do the saving come from? is it government sponsored? can they get money off just because their a single company and ask for % off??? is this legal?

[Mrs_Lynder]

Well the link has the code in it. but if you were to go directly to the site without the tb01 in the url then you would need an access code. I have found a couple of different codes out there on the web that work with the site like pr01, pr02, 3274.

[ryzellon]

I'm noticing that the link in the instructions already has the access code in the URL. That'll be why you're not prompted for one. (If you go to the site without the code in the URL, you get the prompt.)

As for how it works... Well, you can go to their About page, and it's totally uninformative: "How Do Prescription Drug Savings Cards Work?
Prescription Drug Savings cards contain special computerized instructions that can be read by the pharmacy 's computer, similar to an ATM card. When the card information is entered, the price on the prescription is discounted based on the pharmacy's agreement with the Pharmacy Benefits Manager. This type of cutting-edge technology allows consumers to save money without encountering any hassles on the checkout line."

I'm guessing that it's just the pharmacies trying to maintain a satisfied consumer base. Sort of like asking for a discount at a department store, and getting it, even though nothing's advertised. I'm seeing it as a perpetual coupon--(probably) legal, doesn't harm their profits much, and now they've got someone who comes to them for drugs.

[Mrs_Lynder]

Not sure exactly how these things work, just that they do work. The pharmacist registers you in their system just like any other Rx plan. It's basically a free discount prescription card. Some of the cards work better than others as far as the % of discount you get.

[jackrackam]

Legality in all this? Don't get me wrong, I'm not one to pass the opportunity to save money, just publishing illegal tricks makes them fix them. Just wondering if this is getting added to the "to-do" list for pharamsuticals anti-loophole department.