Shoppers Drugmart/Costco

[chico2]

I know probably not many of you are on regular meds,but my hubby is on quiet expensive drugs,bloodpressure,cholesterol etc...
Not yet beeing 65,but retired,we have to pay a large part of it that his insurance from work does not cover.
We've been going to Shoppers for decades paying now $11.99 dispensing-fee for each drug.
We checked the Costco Pharmacy,the same meds are cheaper,the dispensing-fee is $4.11 a HUGE difference for us,so since Costco is close to us,no more Shoppers

[happycats]

I think Shoppers is one of the most expensive!!!
I find Loblaws reasonable (I think it's 5$ or so)
I gave up my Costco membership, it's just not close enough to where I live.

I wonder how much Sam's club would be?

[chico2]

Happycats,I stupidly thought dispensing fees were the same everywhere
I would assume Sam's would be competing with Costco.

[krdahmer]

I am on a ton of meds, always have been what with asthma and allergies. I know shoppers is expensive but have heard good things about both Costco and WalMart about dispensing fees. I go to a local pharmacy that I used to work at in highschool, they are about $10 for the dispensing fee, but they let me run a house charge account when we are tight for money. And with the 4-500$ my monthly meds can cost, that was my deciding factor.

I can't wait till hubby's next benefits kick in in January!

[joeysmama]

What in the world is a dispensing fee? Just a surcharge they add for giving you the meds?? Seems very unfair.

[chico2]

It's for putting the pills in a bottle
Shoppers Drugmart is a rip-off for sure

[Hogansma]

My meds per month are expensive but I do go to Shoppers Drug Mart. They have an Optimum card that earns you free shopping when you accumulate points. The plus is, you get points on not only what you pay but also on the whole amount, even if you're covered by a plan. I have MS and my monthly cost for one drug alone is $1,600. I only pay $5 per perscription and my plan covers the rest but I earn points on the whole $1,600. Therefore, I get a free $75 shopping spree there every 2 months. What a deal!

[chico2]

Hogansmom I agree,if you have a good plan,who cares,paying $5 is certainly reasonable.
Here though,the Optimum card cannot be used on prescription drugs.

[clm]

Costco has their executive membership which allows you a 2% rebate at the end of the year and if you go one better and get an American Express Costco card, you can get an additional 2% rebate on top of that...
Mind you, I spend a lot of money at Costco, so worth my while to do that.

Cindy

[Melinda]

Originally Posted by Hogansma

My meds per month are expensive but I do go to Shoppers Drug Mart. They have an Optimum card that earns you free shopping when you accumulate points. The plus is, you get points on not only what you pay but also on the whole amount, even if you're covered by a plan. I have MS and my monthly cost for one drug alone is $1,600. I only pay $5 per perscription and my plan covers the rest but I earn points on the whole $1,600. Therefore, I get a free $75 shopping spree there every 2 months. What a deal!

Shoppers no longer gives points for perscription drugs (daughter works there) at least in Ontario they don't, and she was told all over was the same

[chico2]

clm,we have the American Express Costco card and it's great,we get a check from AME and one from Costco once a year,we too spend quiet a bit at Costco,it's well worth it.

[CyberKitten]

Dispensing fees are entirely up to what ever the pharmacy wants to charge and "what the market will bear" I know from ordering cancer drugs (amg THE most expensive in the universe) that Shopper's - even with its generic meds - is probably THE most expensive of all the pharmacy chains. Even the smaller PharmaSave is less expensive. One thing consumers CAN do and I suggest this to the parents of my patients is to negotiate. Say you live in a rural area (I have quite a few rural patients) - and the only game in town is a Guardian or PharmaSave or there may be different ones in other parts of Canada or independent stores. You can negotiate with the pharmacist and tell him or her that Zeller's (which like Superstore here is on e of the cheapest tho Costco is good tho not everyone is a member nor seeks to join nor lives close to one - there are 2 in the Maritimes and many people live say 8 hrs away from one - they can go to Maine and get meds cheaper at Sam's Club!) will give the meds for such a d such and ask them to match the price. Often they will.

It does not help that every singe provincial plan is unique - it is like we have 10 HMO's if you count the provinces - some cover the vast majority of cancer meds for children, some do not, as an example. And they always pay for the generic and not the actual med which in some cases is actually better to take. This is certainly the case with say, 222's which I know are OTC tho one must ask for them. They are much better than generic ASA which can melt in the person's mouth, causing more probs and not reaching the digestive tract in the same amt if time. It may well be the exact same med but the polymers coating it are better. It becomes a fight every time a new cancer med comes on the market, sigh!!!

For people who really have economic difficulties, there are policies in every province in which Minister of Health can make Ministerial discretions about paying for certain drugs.

I have to say here tho, I do not know of one pharmacy (ie company!) that has the same dispensing fee.