Assuming that prescription drugs have similar prices at different local pharmacies can cost an uninsured consumer thousands of dollars per year. A recent price check showed that drug prices vary dramatically between different local pharmacies - with some pharmacies charging eight times more than others for an identical bottle of pills.
On Nov. 3, the prices of 10 common prescription medications were checked at five local pharmacies, including both corner drugstores like Walgreens and pharmacies at discount warehouses such as Costco.
The prices for generic medications, which are widely purchased as less expensive alternatives to their name-brand counterparts, varied an average of 455 percent between the low and high prices reported by pharmacies.
At the Costco on Germantown Parkway, $13.01 would buy thirty 80 milligram Simvastatin tablets - the generic version of the cholesterol-lowing drug Zocor - but the Rite Aid in Poplar Plaza charged $120.99 for the same prescription.
That is a difference of $89.98, or 692 percent, for the same bottle of pills.
A prescription for the generic version of the anti-depressant medication Zoloft costs $6.93 at Costco and $56.99 at Rite Aid - a difference of 722 percent.
No pharmacy had the lowest price for each individual prescription, but Costco had the lowest combined price for both name-brand and generic medications checked. Rite Aid had the highest total price and the highest individual prices for eight of the ten prescriptions requested.
Name-brand drug prices were relatively consistent between pharmacies, varying an average of 25 percent between the lowest and highest reported cost, but consumers who purchase generic medications stand to save thousands of dollars a year by calling around to compare prices.
Costco pharmacy manager Celeste Poppenheimer said that even though a store membership is required to shop in the Costco warehouse, the pharmacy is open to the general public. All customers have to do is tell the person checking membership cards at the entrance that they are going to the pharmacy, and they will be allowed to enter.
The pharmacy at Sam's Club - which had the second-lowest total prices in this group - is also open to non-members.
The Church Health Center is a Memphis-based non-profit clinic that provides free or reduced-cost healthcare to uninsured patients. Former dispensary manager Jeff Lowder, who was in charge of purchasing and providing prescription medication to thousands of uninsured patients, said the price variations are well known to people in the industry, and convenience store pharmacies such as Walgreens tend to have the highest prices.
"Walgreens includes in their prescription prices what they refer to as a 'marketing fee,'" Lowder said. "It's a fee that you pay in your prescription for them to advertise on television."
The Walgreens at 6697 Stage Road in Bartlett had the second-highest combined price among the pharmacies checked for this story.
Lowder, who is also a University of Memphis student, said that, for the most part, the prices for name-brand medications are set by the companies that produce them. Drugs that are relatively new to the market are usually patent-protected, Lowder said, and the company that owns the patent has the sole right to distribution.
But generic drugs are not under patent protection, and competition between several manufacturers drives down prices. This decrease in price allows some pharmacies to build high profit margins into generic drugs because many consumers are unaware of how inexpensive the medications have become.
Walgreens pharmacy employee Scott Rosen said customers often compare generic drug prices only to their name-brand equivalents, and as long as the generics are cheaper, the customer is satisfied. Rosen said many people never check prices at other pharmacies because they assume prescription prices are competitive at all pharmacies, or are long-time customers who continue buying their medications from Walgreens out of habit.
Walgreens executives know this, Rosen said, and they build high profit margins into generic drug sales.
"They know that they may lose some customers by doing that, but they know that the customers they keep, they'll make a killing on," Rosen said.
Rosen told a story about an elderly man who came into Walgreens and purchased a prescription for about $35. The man later found out that the same prescription cost only $4 at Walmart, and he confronted the Walgreens pharmacist.
"He came back and he was furious," Rosen said. "He demanded his money back, but we couldn't help him because we can't give refunds on prescriptions."
Lowder said he recommends all customers, whether they have health insurance or not, shop around for the best prices on prescription medication. All of the pharmacies contacted for this story were able to provide all ten prescription prices over the phone in less than five minutes.
Lowder said that in addition to price checking at different pharmacies, consumers should check to see if their prescription can be filled for less money using a different strength pill in a different dosage.
At Sam's Club, for example, 80 milligrams generic Zoloft tablets cost $1.75 apiece, but two 40 milligram tablets - an identical dosage - can be purchased for 48 cents.
The pharmacist will have to get the approval of the physician before making this kind of substitution, Lowder said, but they should be able to if requested.
Of the locations contacted for this story, the pharmacist at Sam's Club was the only one who mentioned the alternative dosage method to lower the price for generic Zoloft, although Costco offered the lowest price overall for the prescription.
Some pharmacies will match competitor's prices on prescriptions at a customer's request. A pharmacy technician at Sam's Club said that as long as they can verify the competition's price, they will match it for any prescription sold - including both generic and name-brand medications.
Despite the triple-digit mark-ups some pharmacies tack on to prescription medication, Lowder said that, in a way, he understands the mindset of the pharmacy owners.
"There's a common misconception in our society," Lowder said. "It's not about taking care of patients because that's not the pharmacy's job. It's a capitalistic endeavor. Pharmacies and insurance companies didn't take the Hippocratic Oath. Their focus is not, 'Above all else, do no harm.' Their focus is not helping the patient. Their focus is on making money, and you can't fault them for that, because that's what our whole economy is based on."
However, our economy is also based on competition, and since pharmacies are required to give prescription prices on request, a few phone calls may be all it takes for consumers get the most for their money.
