Pharmacist: "The total comes to $164."
Me: "Wait, what?! This prescription should be on the $4.00 list. I normally pay at most $12 for a 90 day supply. Is it the right medication? The generic?"
Pharmacist: "Do you have insurance?"
Me: "I haven't had insurance for over two years. I've NEVER had to pay that much."
Pharmacist: "Let me check the list of $4.00 medications."
Walks away to go converse with another pharmacist and look at the list.
Pharmacist: "I'm sorry, but that particular medication isn't on the list. Are you sure you didn't have insurance the last time you paid?"
Me: "I'm positive. When did they change the price?"
I filled the same prescription less than three months ago. Let's see what they say.
Pharmacist: "I'm not sure if it ever was on there."
Me: "...."
Pharmacist: "This particular medication is on back-order right now so if you don't get it today we can only hold it for you for a few days. Would you like us to do that for you?"
Me: "Well, I definitely can't afford it."
I walked off confused and a little irritated at the entire situation. Especially since my last dentist bill almost made me cry! I immediately called my mom to see what she thought and wasn't surprised that she had the same reaction. My next few calls were around to different pharmacies to see if the price would be any better. Out of curiosity I called a different Wal-Mart and they told me it would be $55. Huh???
Finally some answers came via a Target Pharmacist. Apparently Wal-Mart has been having a hard time keeping up with the demand. So the solution was to raise the price? Sure, all of those with insurance might not really care if they only end up paying $20 and their insurance covers the rest, but what about all of the rest of us that cant?! What is the deal with charging that much and billing the insurance companies more for a generic brand?!
In the end I went to Costco and was happy to pay $9.20. Wal-Mart has lost one customer that was loyal for over two years, and I'm sure I'm not going to be the only one that decides to switch.
