Medicare drug discounts offer no savings for savvy consumers according to PharmacyChecker.com: US wholesale pharmacies and licensed Canadian pharmacies average 60% savings over Medicare prices

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,  July, 2004  

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

A review by PharmacyChecker.com of the discounted prices recently released on the new Medicare drug card website found that US consumers save significantly more by shopping at US wholesale pharmacies and Canadian pharmacies. Compared to the best prices on the Medicare website, prices on five popular drugs averaged 60% lower among licensed, top-rated pharmacies listed on PharmacyChecker.com. The savings ranged from 44% to 78%, as shown below. The best savings on brand name drugs were from Canada, while the best savings on generic drugs were from US wholesale pharmacies.

Explaining the Price Differences

Despite Medicare drug card discounts, Canadian drug prices on brand name drugs are lower due to government price controls. Some Canadian pharmacies also partner with foreign pharmacies to achieve even greater discounts. The price listed above on Lipitor is from a Canadian pharmacy sourcing the drug from a New Zealand pharmacy--the standard Canadian price on Lipitor is about $10 higher.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Generic drug prices on the Medicare website tend to be high because they are discounted off an inflated average wholesale price (AWP). The lowest generic drug prices on PharmacyChecker.com are from wholesale pharmacies that typically acquire products at far lower than the AWP and charge only a small mark-up. Canadian generic prices tend to be higher than US prices because Canada has fixed generic prices while the US generic market is extremely competitive.

PharmacyChecker.com is privately held and based in White Plains, New York. It has no ownership in or from companies that sell or distribute pharmacy products. Its ratings and price comparisons are available to online subscribers at www.pharmacychecker.com. Its ratings will also be published in paperback this June in PharmacyChecker.com Guide to Low-Cost Canadian and U.S. Pharmacies 2004. The guidebook can be pre-ordered from 800-431-1579 PharmacyChecker.com also publishes a business-level PriceTracker report, which provides price trends and analyses on Canadian and US pharmacies. To order a PriceTracker report contact Gabriel Levitt, Director of Research at gabriel.levitt@pharmacychecker.com; 718-387-4526.

                                Lowest           Lowest
                               Medicare    PharmacyChecker.com   Savings
Drug                          Card Prices    Prices (Country)

Lipitor (20mg) -- 100 pills   $296.07      $167.08                44%
                                           (Canada/New Zealand)
Premarin (.625) -- 100 pills   $79.67       $17.84 (Canada)       78%
Vioxx (25mg) -- 100 pills     $254.28      $124.36 (Canada)       51%
Fluoxetine (20mg)
 100 pills -- Generic          $32.33       $14.94 (US)           54%
Lisinopril (20mg)
 100 pills -- Generic          $72.15       $17.69 (US)           75%

Sources: Medicare-Approved Drug Discount Cards website and prices from
licensed pharmacies listed on PharmacyChecker.com

COPYRIGHT 2004 The Townsend Letter Group
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group