changing warfarin brands

[Luana]

Luana:

You're lucky. I get mine from Ralphs Pharmacy and THEY want to charge me $23 for 90 5 mg tabs. Perhaps your Ralphs Pharmacy ignores the State's rule. I'm 'stuck' getting 10 mg and breaking them in half. (Of course, this way it's HALF of what you're paying for your generic 5 mg, so I'm not complaining.)

I take 49/week - I've been consistently at this dose for quite a while. I get 7 mg/day by breaking a 10 mg in half, and a 4 mg in half -- so it's still costing me $10 for 90 days. If I was able to get a 5 mg for $10 for 90 and a 2 mg at the same cost, my daily cost would be twice what it costs me now. (Still going from about a dime a day to twenty cents a day isn't a big deal). I could probably get to 49 by taking six 7.5 mg and a 4 mg, but the consistent 5+2 every day is a bit smoother and still comes out to two half-pills a day.

Ralph's is not the only place to get $4 generics. As for the "state rule" that sounds totally ridiculous. I've worked in insurance billing and the insurance industry for a long time. Medi-Cal has the lowest reimbursement amounts going. For example, if a pharmacy is billing Medi-Cal $23 for an Rx, they're probably getting reimbursed something like $2 or $3.

If it works out more economical for you the way you're doing it, great, but someone does not know what he/she is talking about.

 

[Protimenow]

That 'someone' happens to be the pharmacy manager at Ralphs....Target and Walmart also do generics at $4 for 30 and $10 for 90. Perhaps YOU should call another Ralphs Pharmacy - or Walmart or Target and just ASK how much the 5 mg Warfarin tabs go for.

I didn't write the stupid rule that the state requires - and you'll see on the Ralphs list of generics that there's even a disclaimer that NOT ALL generics can be offered at the listed price. Believe me, if I could have gotten the 5 mg generic for $10 for 90, I would have.

 

[Luana]

That 'someone' happens to be the pharmacy manager at Ralphs....Target and Walmart also do generics at $4 for 30 and $10 for 90. Perhaps YOU should call another Ralphs Pharmacy - or Walmart or Target and just ASK how much the 5 mg Warfarin tabs go for.

I didn't write the stupid rule that the state requires - and you'll see on the Ralphs list of generics that there's even a disclaimer that NOT ALL generics can be offered at the listed price. Believe me, if I could have gotten the 5 mg generic for $10 for 90, I would have.

Yes, I have gotten 5 mg warfarin for $4 at Target.

 

[Protimenow]

I'm not questioning that. I got it for $10 for 90 days -- until a few months ago, when they told me they can't sell it at that price because of some State regulation. Now, if I ask for a price for the 5 mg generic, I'm told it's not included.

You might be surprised the next time you try to fill it.

 

[Protimenow]

Luana:

Your Ralphs pharmacy probably wasn't following California State rules when it sold you 5 mg Warfarin at the $4 for 30 or $10 for 90 price. Here's a link to Ralphs Market's generic price list: http://www.ralphs.com/generic/Pages/alpha_listing.aspx. You'll see that ONLY the 5 mg Warfarin has an asterisk next to it.
The legend for the asterisk says: "*Certain medications are priced higher in California, Montana and Wyoming due to state laws."

Whatever the reason - no matter HOW ridiculous - Ralphs Pharmacy charges more (at least the Ralphs I go to does) than the posted generic price. I'm thinking that, because the patent Coumadin price is more than $1 a pill (according to a Medicare schedule I found after I googled it), someone at the state may have thought a quarter or so was a bargain for a generic and added it to the state's reimbursement schedule.

I did a quick check of the generic drug lists at Walmart and Target, and both have the asterisk and a statement that you may be charged more (for Warfarin 5 mg). If you want confirmation, feel free to check with these pharmacies, too.

As you said: 'someone does not know what he/she is talking about.' I'm guessing that it might be your pharmacist. It sure isn't me.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

As others have mentioned in various posts, you can buy 10 mg tablets and split them for a 'double discount'

'AL Capshaw'

 

[Protimenow]

Yes, Al. That's what I do. Same thing with the 4 mg.

These pills are scored in the middle so you can easily split them.

Although two halves of the same pill may not have EXACTLY the same dosage, they're close enough.

Without the scored line in the pills, it's hard to get an exact break. (For example, if someone wants to drop the price of a 10 cent warfarin tablet to 2.5 cents by breaking it in half, and breaking each half in half again, I don't think quartering a pill would be nearly as easy as just cracking one in half.) There's cheap and then there's ????

 

[dick0236]

There's cheap and then there's ????

I have always understood that any pill that is scored can be safely broken in half and if it is not scored, it should not be broken in half.

Back when Coumadine had a lock on the market, and I was paying "an arm and a leg" for my Rx, my docs always prescribed 10mg Coumadine and I broke them into two 5mg doses:wink2:. Fortunately, now that Warfarin has taken that market, I don't have to break tablets anymore. I buy and take 5's and my drug copay is -0-:thumbup:. Can't beat that price with a stick:biggrin2:.