Coupon Suzy

When I was a young boy, I used to chuckle at my grandmother, who sort through a filing cabinet’s worth of coupons at the supermarket checkout, just to save 10 cents on a can of peas. I recently changed my point of view on this matter, and now, like Mickey Dolenz, I’m a Believer.

Why the sudden about face, you might ask? Well, I just saved $40 on one of my prescriptions when I searched for and found an on-line coupon.

Well, actually it wasn’t a coupon. My prescription insurance carrier would be pissed if I got a $40 discount and did not share the savings with them. Luckily, the people at the pharmaceutical company was able to work around this. The ‘coupon’ was actually set up as a free ‘prescription insurance’ policy that paid a $40 benefit for that particular drug. The ‘coupon’ is then processed by the pharmacy the same way that they would process any other insurance claim. Voila! I had an extra $40 in my pocket.

It seems that many drugs have similar ‘coupons’ that you can use to help control the out of pocket expense when you fill your prescriptions. Some are yours for the asking – others require you to fill out a questionnaire in order to receive them. Some are based upon financial need – others are available to everyone for the asking. Some drug reps actually leave ‘coupons’ at your doctor’s office, so be sure to ask for them there. Savvy consumers should search the internet for deals on the drugs that they use – a few minutes time can save you hundreds of dollars.

This is great, I guess, but it still begs a few questions. First, why are things that I need for my health and well-being retailed like a can of soup? Secondly, why go through all of this ‘coupon’ nonsense when you can just make the drug more affordable in the first place?

I don’t know if I will ever get an honest answer to either of those questions, so in the meanwhile, I will do my part to keep health care costs down by clipping coupons wherever I can find them. I also can now see how wise and frugal my grandmother was. I know that my dear grandmother, wherever she is, forgives me for laughing at her when I was a child. As she used to say, ‘Live and Learn’.



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