Where are the cheapest places to get your perscriptions filled?

[cheekysaver]

I know many of us have perscriptions and i would love to get info out there compairing cost of perscriptions. There are drug stores and grocery stores and big box stores and whole sale places that we can get perscriptions from.

I get my perscriptions at Safeway because i have full coverage and it offers me 7 times the airmiles back. However there are many people out there that have no coverage or they can't get coverage due to pre existing medical conditions. It would be great if we could find some info and share it so people who only get a perscription every 3 years have the info as well as those of us that get monthly medications.

Have you guys found any drug insurance plans that can be purchased that cover pre existing medications? Even blue cross here in alberta chooses not to deal with pre existing.

[Natalka]

Hey, cheeky! I don't know if all provinces have this, but in SK, there are guidelines for what the dispensing fee can be - a maximum is given, and some places do go lower.
I think a lot of people go to Costco (you don't have to be a member) because often their dispensing fees are the lowest. Otherwise, like you, if someone is able to get AM/points, etc. that can be the deciding factor.

We are currently very lucky to have complete prescription coverage through my husband's work, as he and I both have recurring prescriptions. It did not matter to them that I - drat - have pre-existing conditions.
BUT, I do have pre-existing conditions, and a while back when we were without drug coverage, I was refused by Blue Cross, though they would cover my husband and son.

SK is also good for having programs for prescriptions for low-income families. Also, if something isn't covered under the formulary (the big list of what insurance will pay for, or at least lessen the cost of), there is an Exceptional Drug Status program which can be applied for through a doctor. I've had to use that program in the past, for medication which wasn't on the formulary, but with it getting the special drug status, it could then go under insurance.

We get our prescriptions filled by Shoppers, for the sake of convenience as well as for the help of the pharmacists - they are absolutely wonderful! At the clinic we go to, the docs send the script right to the drugstore via puter.