Several years ago, I was working for a large company, and health insurance was something that I just took for granted.  The only time I ever used it was to visit my gynecologist once a year, and to get my birth control prescription filled.  I think I paid $5 or $10/month for my Rx.  Once I became self employed, I found out that the fancy brand-name birth control I was taking cost $35/month.  My individual health insurance has a $500 deductible on prescriptions, so I was paying full price for the prescription every month.  I did some searching around and found Drugs For Less.  It’s a mail order pharmacy (formerly called SmartWomanRx), and I now pay $45 for a three-month supply of birth control, delivered to my house.  They only carry certain prescriptions, so I checked with them first to find out which generic Rx they carried that was most like the brand-name drug I was on.  Then I asked my doctor to write me a prescription for the generic option, and started saving $240/year on prescription costs.  The phone number for Drugs For Less is 888-999-1595.  So if you don’t have prescription drug copays on your health insurance and are paying out-of-pocket for your birth control, give them a call and see if you can save some money. 

tags: drugs for less prescription birth control