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Your Doctor Can Help You Save Money Consult your doctor and use this simple technique to save money on your medications. Here`s how-most prescription drugs are priced the same regardless of dosage. Your doctor can prescribe certain drugs at double the dose. So if you doctor prescribes a pill that is double the dosage you pay the same price. You then can split the tablets in half, resulting in a 50% savings. A word of warning, however. Pill splitting is not for everyone, and not all pills can be split. Time-release formulations don`t work. Those with a protective coating should not be split because it defeats the purpose of the special coating. Medications that require an extremely precise dose are also not good for splitting. Ask your doctor if he would recommend pill splitting for you. If you get the OK, buy a pill splitter (a few dollars at pharmacies) to make the cutting task easier and more accurate. Source: Consumer Reports on Health, January 2000, page 10. For more on this topic see `Reader Saves Over $70 per Month on Prescription Drugs,` The Social Security & Medicare Advisor, Dec./Jan. 2001, V6#2. Readers` Tips K-MART Pill Splitter Our K-MART sells a plastic `pill splitter` with a `V` shaped trough. You place a tablet inside and close the lid, which has a metal cutter that splits the pill in half. The cost is $1.95. It does not crush the pill, but divides it into equal parts. This cutter is cheaper than the mail order one mentioned in your December/January issue ($4.95 plus shipping). This article first appeared in Volume 6, Issue 6 of "The Social Security and Medicare Advisor" newsletter (May/2001). To receive future editions of "The Advisor" in its special, free e-mail version, please click here. | ||||||||
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