Are Generic drugs consistant in content??-Kathleen

[Guest guest]

Kathleen,

If you have prescription insurance where you only pay a co-pay, and

can get your doctor to write your prescription as a " dispense as

written " , most of the time, you can get the drug at the normal co-

pay, as with drugs that don't have a generic. For instance, I was

taking Xanax, and can't take the generic. If I got the name brand

without the DAW, it would cost me $30....with it, I paid the normal

$15 co-pay. I don't know if all insurance companies do this, but

it's worth a try! Your pharmacist should be able to tell you what

your insurance company's policy is on that. It's a little way I've

found to " get around the system " . Hope this helps some!

Jen

[Guest guest]

Unfortunately, not everyone with insurance is lucky enough to have that much

liberty with their medicines. For example, with my insurance, I have a

mandatory generic policy. This means if a drug has a generic available, I must

get the generic whether I want to or not. If a prescription with a generic

available is written as " DAW " , I would have to pay full price and not just a

co-pay. Obviously, that isn't a good thing if the generic doesn't work for me.

Sara Greathouse in Ohio

sfatula@...

Owner: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TPW_Health_Forum

Moderator: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PagansWithChronicPain

Standing Together for Adequate Treatment

[Guest guest]

Moderator Note: When I read the subject and then read the content they don't

match. Is it me or am I missing something?

Sara,

That really bites. My insurance normally requires a generic when

available, but when the doctor deems it " medically necessary " (ie,

the generic doesn't work) that I be on the name brand, I only have

to pay the normal co-pay for the script, which is $15. However, if

I just WANT the name brand because of personal choice, I have to pay

$30 for it.

That's my hubby's prescription insurance though. Mine sucks, so I

don't even use it. With that one, they charge a certain percentage

of the drug's cost if they aren't generics, which the majority of my

meds aren't. It's like 10% for drugs on the formulary, 20% for

drugs not on the formulary, and so on. My Topamax is like $460 a

month, so I'd be paying $46 a month for it, vs. $15. And all

generics on my hubby's are $5, vs. $7 or $10 on mine. Insurance is

a rip-off these days!

Jen