To the editor: President Trump conflates drug costs with healthcare, and except his TrumpRx web site consists of decrease wholesale costs to insurance coverage firms, I don’t assume it’s going to assist a lot (“Trump administration launches TrumpRx web site for discounted medication,” Feb. 6). There are already some ways to get deep reductions on prescriptions, together with free web sites or simply asking. However typically you don’t even want to try this.
Some years in the past, my dentist at UCLA prescribed a Z-Pak, a typical antibiotic that comprises solely six tablets. At the moment, I didn’t have insurance coverage or know a lot about prescriptions, besides to ask for the generic model. I went to the pharmacy inside Ralphs on the backside of the hill, the place I typically stopped for a snack after the dentist.
The pharmacist requested for $170. I didn’t say something, however maybe I grimaced, as a result of she instantly mentioned, “Let me see if I can discover you a reduction.” I wasn’t anticipating a lot — maybe $140 or $139.95 — so I used to be completely shocked when she mentioned, “That will probably be $12.”
It was at that actual second I noticed pharmacy costs are sometimes a whole rip-off.
Gary Davis, Los Angeles
