Depending on your medical insurance (or lack there of) the value of bartering for prescription drugs will vary. In my family’s case, we have excellent insurance, however it has a high deductible which means for the first half of the year I pay cash on the barrel head for all things medical. So at the beginning of the year, I’m paying cash for prescription drugs. I’ve been buying perscription drugs on barter for about a year and this is what I’ve learned.
- Although I have found a number of pharmacies that will barter for prescription medications, they have never been near by. That means that you are working through the mail. This is not necessarily a problem, but it does mean that you need to plan ahead. It also means that it’s unlikely that you will get antibiotics for your children when they have an ear infection. Bartering for medication is suitable for ongoing treatments that you know about ahead of time.
- Pricing is not fantastic with barter pharmacies. Especially if you are used to simply paying co-pays. If you are bartering for prescription drugs, get ready to pay more than the retail rate. That being said, I’ve found that when I take into account the wholesale price that I acquire barter credits at, the pricing works. There are a couple reasons for the high prices: First off, as with all hard goods that are in demand, it’s pretty normal to pay a relatively high barter rate. Secondly, it’s generally smaller independent pharmacies that are open to trade. They don’t have the muscle to negotiate the kind of prices that big chain pharmacies do.
- While my wife was recovering from major surgery, she was on pain killers that are more strictly regulated than most medications. I was able to barter for these, however these prescriptions cannot be called or faxed in to the pharmacy. The pharmacy needs the original prescription. I would personally recommend that you have all prescriptions like this mailed directly from the doctor’s office to the pharmacy. That way if it gets lost somewhere along the way, no-one will ever think there was any funny business on your part.
- Because timing and accuracy are so important with prescription drugs you really have to watch for good customer service. I’ve worked with two pharmacies. One was fantastic and the other one was horrible. Find one you like and really take good care of them. Pharmacies generally aren’t used to dealing with barter and adding another layer of complication in a business were mistakes are not allowed can be tough.
- It has not been my experience that pharmacies work with insurance when they are bartering. What I have done is paid for the drugs on barter, then submit them to my insurance company myself. Each insurance company while allow a different price for a particular medication and it will probably be considerably less than what you paid on barter. As I mentioned in my last post…once I hit my deductible, I can submit my receipts to my insurance company and they will send me a cash reimbursement check.
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