Daughter has an ear infection, we were using rite aid because it was convenient when the kids were little but we have since moved and i realized today that driving even 15 mins out of my way with a sick kids was hard .. is walgreens ok? It seems like their prices on other things are higher so i worried that they would be too expensive ???? Between the Dr's office and home, i could pass 2 RiteAids, one Walgreens, Giant Eagle and a Walmart. the first 2 have drive ups the others don't, We do have insurance but i have no idea what it coveres, I should though!! I'll do some calling around, I forgot about the free antibiotics at Giant Eagle, someone had told me about that before. That would be harder to get in and out of quickly though. Thanks for the advice, i'll do some research.
Thanks everyone, usually i edit before i send but dd woke up crying and i didn't have time. so sorry for the typos
All i use is walgreens when they dont have it at the base..they are cheap and close to my house...I also heard cvs is good to.
Personally I avoid the big "chain pharmacies" and patronize a locally owned pharmacy. I think you get better service, attention and they knock themselves out to make sure my insurance is used to the maximum benefit.
You can call any pharmacy and give them the name and dosage of your prescription and they will tell you their price. I've done it...there's a huge difference in prices depending on who you call!
If I am looking for a new pharmacy I call around. I tell the person answering the phone what the med is and the amount and ask how much it is. You will be surprised at the difference. I had one and called around to about 7 pharmacies ranging from Walmart to locally owned ones. Walmart had the best price, of course, they have the power to get prices down for all their people. But they are very impersonal. The highest price was Walgreens. The scrip was for an anti biotic and it was something like $45 at Walgreens and $14 at Walmart with most others being closer to $25-30.
I would always call and see for myself. I would want to make sure since drugs vary in pricing every other day or so. If there is a drive through that you can patronize it is really handy to drive up and drop off then drive around and wait to pick up. A couple of our local pharmacies do that.
One thing I will confirm though is the same as what Denise said. Big chain pharmacies offer very little for customer interactiona dn you get a different pharmacist every time. They have 3 at Walmart all the time and they seem to change weekly.
When we had insurance we used a small local lady's pharmacy. I had started using her when Hubby and I got married. I have lots of issues with meds, bad reactions, upset stomach, past history of ulcers, breathing issues with lots of pain meds, cannot take anything with Aspirin, etc...well, I had this very smart doc who thought he knew me better than I did gave me a scrip for Naprosin. Any other pharmacy would have filled it and took my money. The local pharmacist knew my medical history and refused to fill it and then sat me down and told me why. It would have torn my stomach up, and maybe started the ulcers again. She saved me pain and suffering because she knew me. If I had insurance and the cost was even close I would go back in a heartbeat to her.
If your insurance is like mine and your copayment is your copayment irregardless of which pharmacy fills it than I would take it to the closest pharmacy that has a drive thru and will have your prescription ready in 15-20 minutes flat. For me that is Walgreens. While Giant Eagle does offer the free antibiotics I can not be bothered trudging my sick child into the store to be told the wait is 45-60 minutes.
I agree with Gamma G. Walgreens, is convenient in that you can access and get your medicine anywhere there is a walgreens since they're all connected on line, they are the most expensive. I just did some of my own research on pharmacy prescription prices last year, I took my own meds and several others of friends and family (empty bottles) and brought them in and had them check prices.
we have a walgreens down the street, and we've never had any trouble with it.
It all depends upon who is a "preferred pharmacy" with your insurance. I work for a pharmacy in a Dillons store...which is part of the Kroger family. I know that a lot of times we are told by customers that we are cheaper than Walgreens on a lot of medicines.
You might also check to see which pharmacies in your area have the $4 prescription program. (And make sure it is one that doesn't charge a fee to join their "club" I think that Walgreens does charge a $25 fee for you to be able to take advantage of their $4 program!! Kroger family stores do no charge anything).
My suggestion would be to call your insurance company (you should find an 800 number on your insurance card) and ask them which pharmacy in your area is better for you....OR if you don't have insurance....call around and get the cash price of the medicine that you are needing to get. You can also ask if the pharmacy offers an in store discount card....we have something that is called a United Network Card that can give you a discount of up to 75% on drugs...of course most of them are not that drastic a savings. It is a program that we just offer for free to any customer that doesn't not have insurance and is not purchasing one of the 300 + drugs on our $4 list.
You can also apply online for free discount cards...google Pharmacy Discount Card and see what is available in your area. I know a lot of people have been bringing in something called the Simple Savings card (Simplesavings.com) that I think is used a lot like our United Network Card.
That being said...to me...the most important part of a pharmacy is the pharmacist and the staff....you want to find a place that you feel confident in their knowledge and ability to take good care of you!!!
