Prescription Discount Cards

Now this is where some uninsured or un-informed people start to run into some trouble and don't get their full money worth.
There are many prescription discount cards advertised online, however most cards will give different discounts depending on medications and pharmacy. Before you go to your pharmacy keep these ones in mind, if you can print them out ahead of time.
1) AAA: If you are a member of AAA they offer a modest prescription discount, usually not the best compared with others but fairly basic.
2) Universal Rx: Discount processor that quite a few online discount cards work through you can print out one from Rx101 .  Also not usually the best, occasionally better than other discounts.
These next three are generally the best I've found for most medications.
3) National Association of Counties: If your county participates in your program you can easily use this SITE to locate and find to print it out.
4) Una Rx Card: Frequently one of the best cards to use giving the best discounts. Can be gotten from this SITE.
5) Smart Rx Card: I currently have paper copies of this one and will be updating as soon as I find a place online for people to print them out. UPDATE: Make your own card using this SITE

One of the great thing about alot of these discount cards is alot of them can be combined with coupons if you lack insurance.  Always keep that in mind.

IMPORTANT:  Even if you have insurance, if you followed the other steps and your doctor gave you a 90 day supply and it's a generic, sometimes it will be cheaper to use the discount card or the program the drug store offers instead of paying your $5 or $10 co-pay for only 1 month worth of medication.  Frequently I have seen generic 90 day supplies go for under $10 using these discount programs.

After Doc, Before Pharmacy

Some people just directly take their prescriptions or have their doctors fax or call in their prescriptions to the pharmacy.  If you're trying to make the most of your money it's best to take some time and wait before you take it in and do these steps.
1) Activate: Quite a few of the free trial or money off coupons the doctor will give you in the last step require verification and activation before they can be used, look over your card/coupon the doctor handed you to make sure you understand how much it is supposed to save you and that it is activated before you bring it in.
2) Gift Card: Many drug store chains offer $25 gift cards if you bring them a new prescription, while this is not an instant savings it's still $25 more than you would have had, and if you really have a prefered pharmacy, you can always get them to transfer it to that one later.  Just go into your prefered pharmacy and they'll do the work to get your prescription to their store.
3) Coupons: Yes at this stage you also can print out your own coupons for medications online, I find http://www.internetdrugcoupons.com to be the best, I send all the links I find to there.  However there's more to this step than initially seems and I will be addressing it in a detailed manner in my next post.
4) Prescription Discount Cards: For those who do not have insurance this is always a good idea, but how to choose the best one? That as well needs an entire post dedicated to it, so continue to follow me to learn more detailed information!
EXTRA HARD MODE: Are you poor? Below the poverty line poor? Many drug companies offer their own programs, this is quite a bit difficult and takes quite a bit of work, so that too will be it's own blog post.
We're beginning to get into the more complex tips and tricks of saving money in the pharmacy now :P