The Official Medtipster Blog

Medtipster.com, the user friendly prescription drugs search engine for consumers, has launched a doctor specific search site to help locate generic drugs for patients.

When you visit your doctor, many times you leave with a prescription that needs to be filled immediately. Doctors care about their patients’ health – yet now they can show more care and concern by helping patients locate the cheapest prescriptions available.

“We want doctors to inform their patients how they can save on drugs, and support the use of generic drugs, at the same time,” says Jason Klein, President of Medtipster.com. Medtipster.com is the online search engine for consumers to locate cheap prescription drugs at a pharmacy near them, with most drugs available on a $4 generic program.

The newly launched Doctor Medtipster has functions separate from the consumer site. While the consumer site will promote immunization, health screenings and mini-clinic searches, the doctor site will not. “We know that doctors have a client base, and certainly don’t want to promote these types of services to those who are not looking for them,” Klein says. “We want doctors to use our site and understand that we want the best options for the patients, just as they do.”

This is the main reason Medtipster.com launched in early 2009, to give consumers a choice when it comes to healthcare. With the average brand name prescription cost of $93.00, the website’s focus is choosing generic drugs. The new “doctor appealing” website will help doctors encourage their patients to save on prescriptions. With nearly all doctor’s offices using internet and innovative technology, doctors can now find where their patients’ newly written prescriptions are available as generic drugs before the patient leaves the office. While generic drugs are the bioequivalent of a brand name drug, doctors often encourage patients to buy generic drugs when possible.

Medtipster.com is quickly earning its reputation for helping consumers find the cheapest prescriptions available right in their neighborhood. It plans to earn the same reputation with doctors, giving them the tool they need to help their patients save on prescriptions before they leave the doctor’s office.

Generic drugs save people hundreds or even thousands of dollars each year, but did you know you could be paying absolutely nothing out of pocket, and your employer’s cost could be significantly reduced – both at the same time.

By now you’re familiar with Medtipster.com. We encourage generic drug purchasing over brand name drugs because they are just as effective, and cost less. You also know where to find your generic prescription at the lowest cost, right in your neighborhood.

If you have insurance, the cost of a generic for you could be a $15 co-pay, and your employer eats up the remainder of the cost, which is an average of $17.00. If you’ve found your generic on a $4 generic program by using Medtipster.com, you pay $4, and your employer pays nothing. We know you love Medtipster.com, but now we want your employer to love Medtipster.com too!

Free prescriptions have been our thing lately, in case you haven’t noticed. Thousands of Michigan residents have received free prescriptions since the beginning of December 2009. We are almost ready to take this free prescription giveaway nationwide, but first, we thought of another way to encourage generic drug purchasing, and you don’t have to be a Michigan resident to take advantage of this program. It’s called the Medtipster MVP.

With this program, employers partner with Medtipster.com to essentially give their employees free prescription cards, redeemable at pharmacies that employees themselves locate on Medtipster.com. The idea is to encourage generic drug purchasing over brand name drugs, and to reduce current and future healthcare costs to the employer.

It works like this example:

Sandy takes Zocor.

Sandy works for ABC123 Inc. and they have partnered with Medtipster.com.

ABC123 informs Sandy that her prescription is available for free if she logs on to the company website portal.

Sandy locates her generic equivalent at her neighborhood pharmacy, then prints out her custom ID card from the company’s privately labeled Medtipster.com site.

Sandy takes her ID card to this participating pharmacy and receives her prescription for Zocor generic equivalent for free.

Because the participating pharmacy has Zocor on a $4 generic program, Medtipster sends ABC123 an invoice for $4, plus a small administration fee.

Looking back at the example in the second paragraph above, this saves the employer an average of $17 per employee’s generic prescription. If you work for a company that employees 1,000 people, and half of those employees take a monthly generic prescription, they spend on average $102,000 each year covering “remaining” costs of their employees’ prescriptions. With the Medtipster MVP, the same company would spend an average of just $24,000 each year, for the SAME generic prescriptions! That’s $78,000 A YEAR!

$78,000 A YEAR.

I like to repeat myself when it sounds that good.

If you would like to see your employer save this kind of money every year, and get free prescriptions, let us know what you think. Let us know who we should talk to at your company about implementing this program. Let’s save some money, and change the way we think about prescription plans.

The idea of saving money is the sole reason why people go to different stores for different items, if they know ahead of time they can spend less to get the same item. Why would prescriptions be any different, I suppose?

We at Medtipster.com encourage you to use our database to find the pharmacy with your specific prescription available on a pharmacy’s $4 generic program close to your home. If you’re taking several medications, this could mean you have several different pharmacy visits every month or every three months. It seems like it makes sense, but then again, does it have to be this way?

Pharmacies want your business. They want to keep you as a customer. Many offer gift cards and incentives to get you in there once, with every intention of keeping you. Next time you have a prescription, you’re already in the database, the pharmacy technician is familiar with your prescription history, and the hassle of a new pharmacy is obsolete. So, why wouldn’t they do what they have to do to keep you?

Price matching is something we hear all the time. This takes me back to my original question, why would prescriptions be any different, I suppose? They are not. Ask your pharmacy technician to match the price being offered at the next pharmacy! It can’t hurt to ask, and all they can say is, “no.”

Find your generics on Medtipster.com first then make a note of where the other generics are available on a generics program. Print the list, or go directly to the competing pharmacy and ask for a print out of the generic’s cost. Take that to the pharmacy of your choice and simply say, “I want to keep all of my prescriptions here, can you match the price of this competing pharmacy’s generic equivalent?”

Switch it up and save! Save time, gas money, and frustration.

Source: MSN Money http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SmartSpending/blog/page.aspx?post=1349052

Tylar Masters

If you’re searching for savings on brand name prescriptions, our user friendly and searchable database of coupons come straight from the manufacturer.

Many people have trouble affording their prescriptions, especially those without health insurance. In fact, one single prescription for a 30-day supply can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. I’ve heard stories of people having to choose between their medications and groceries, and it breaks my heart to think of such dilemma. No one should have to make that choice!

There are ways you can save significant amounts of money on your prescriptions, and I’m not just shouting Medtipster.com here. The growth of internet coupons has exploded over the last few years, to include everything you can imagine – and even, yes, prescriptions. You may already be familiar with our database, which locates the $4 generic program for your specific prescription at your local pharmacy. However, beyond that, we’ve done our homework on certain pharmacy’s required memberships, programs, and rates where necessary. The information is available to everyone right here, at no charge.

If your prescription is not available as a generic, or not available at a pharmacy near you, we have options in store for you! Drug makers often have prescription assistance programs, though in most cases, it is difficult to maneuver through the steps to get the help you need. Here at Medtipster, we understand that frustration and came up with a simple solution to the problem.

Medtispter.com will be implementing a new coupon database and assistance program. The endless internet search through website hoaxes and scams is over! Have you ever tried searching online for “prescription drug coupons?” The results can be a bit confusing, and can stray quite a bit away from what you were really looking to find.

We are working very hard to collect the drug manufacturer’s coupons at large, to create a database that is easy to search through and to find your specific prescription coupon. In many cases, these will save you hundreds of dollars a month! In fact, if your prescription is not available as a generic equivalent, or not available at a pharmacy near you, one click of the button to “locate coupon” will serve as relief, as well as the option to find therapeutic alternatives.

Every prescription listed below is available on a discount generic program at a pharmacy near you. Medtipster.com is your one stop shop to locate these, and thousands of other prescriptions, for as little as $4, or less!

Norvasc

Norvasc: 10 mg

Consumer Price – 100 tablets: $188.29

Cost of General Active Ingredients: $0.14

Percent Markup: 134,493%

_______________________________________________________________________

Paxil

Paxil: 20 mg

Consumer Price – 100 tablets: $220.27

Cost of General Active Ingredients: $7.60

Percent Markup: 2,898%

_______________________________________________________________________

Prozac

Prozac: 20 mg

Consumer Price – 100 tablets: $247.47

Cost of General Active Ingredients: $0.11

Percent Markup: 224,973%

_______________________________________________________________________

Tenormin

Tenormin: 50 mg

Consumer Price – 100 tablets: $104.47

Cost of General Active Ingredients: $0.13

Percent Markup: 80,362%

_______________________________________________________________________

Vasotec

Vasotec: 10 mg

Consumer Price – 100 tablets: $102.37

Cost of General Active Ingredients: $0.20

Percent Markup: 51,185%

_______________________________________________________________________

Xanax

Xanax: 1 mg

Consumer Price – 100 tablets: $136.79

Cost of General Active Ingredients: $0.024

Percent Markup: 569,958%

_______________________________________________________________________

Zestril

Zestril: 20 mg

Consumer Price – 100 tablets: $89.89

Cost of General Active Ingredients: $3.20

Percent Markup: 2,809%

_______________________________________________________________________

Zithromax

Zithromax: 600 mg

Consumer Price – 100 tablets: $1,482.19

Cost of General Active Ingredients: $18.78

Percent Markup: 7,892%

_______________________________________________________________________

Zoloft

Zoloft: 50 mg

Consumer Price: $206.87

Cost of General Active Ingredients: $1.75

Percent Markup: 11,821%

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Now more than ever, with healthcare costs at at all time high, and little relief in sight for so many who struggle with affording medications, we encourage you to share this information with your family and friends.

And remember, Medtipster.com has up to date information on health screenings, immunizations, mini-clinics, and of course, prescription drugs at the lowest cost available.

Americans utilizing prescriptions could each save thousands of dollars if the senate would allow the importation of prescription drugs from Canada and Europe. Sounds great, so, yeah, when can we benefit from that?

Well, not today. Drugmakers win this battle. The possible influx of cheaper medicines is part of a large health care legislation, and the U.S. Senate voted 51-48 in opposition of this movement to loosen importation rules. But the war on prescription drugs isn’t over, and companies like Medtipster are accomplices to win the war.

What does this mean for us, the Americans, who feel the sting when we go to the pharmacy? It means we absolutely need to choose generic drugs over brand names. Generic drugs are the answer.

The issue is that many people do not know that their prescription may be available for even less than what they pay now, that being either their copay or $32.00, which is the average price of a generic drug. More importantly, where do they go to get that prescription on a generic program? Which pharmacy has that generic drug for just $4, or even less?

Medtipser.com has the answer to those questions.

Generic drug programs are available at most pharmacies, and most of their pharmacy websites have an available database or a download-able PDF of their generic drug lists. Medtipster understands what a hassle that can be for consumers, and created the database all in one location, www.medtipster.com. Pharmacy location, phone number, prescription price, even membership information at requiring pharmacies.

If you have trouble affording your medication, please contact us. We are here to help any way we can!

Resource, Bloomberg.com

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Tylar Masters
Manager of Marketing and Communications
Medtipster, LLC.
www.medtipster.com