Save money with New Jersey’s prescription drug registry

BY IRENE CARD AND BETSY CHANDLER

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE

Since 2007 New Jerseyeans have had the ability to determine which pharmacy in their town has the best price for 150 of the most widely used medications. We have a state-run prescription drug registry available by phone and the Internet. The web site is www.njdrugprices.nj.gov. The telephone number is 1-800-242-5846 if you do not have access to a computer. We can thank the lobbying efforts of AARP members together with the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute for this excellent resource.

The price of prescription drugs varies dramatically from pharmacy to pharmacy. You should know what each prescription is costing you (or your insurance company). If you have no prescription drug coverage, comparison shopping becomes even more important.

The web site is very easy to use. You simply click on the word "search" and then you will be asked to enter your zip code and the name of the drug. A list of all the pharmacies in your zip code will come up together with the price of the drug. It is really fascinating to see the difference. Keep in mind that your very large pharmacy chains like Rite-Aid and Walmart, just to name a few, make their profit on all the merchandise they sell so they can afford to have lower prescription costs. The local pharmacist who has been in business for 50 years cannot compete with these prices because his only product is prescription drugs. Be sure to consider service too, as well as price. It is a pity that the huge chain stores are driving all the local pharmacies out of business.

You may want to check several zip codes. A client told me he lives in Sussex but it turns out he shops in Franklin — a different zip code. Be sure to check the zip code that is most convenient for you.

I have been hoping that the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs would expand this list as there are so many more drugs I would like to see on the web site. This Division compiles the prices from the most recent claims submitted by licensed pharmacies to the state as their "usual and customary" prices. Unfortunately, two years beyond the start of this wonderful resource, we still can only check 150 of the most popular drugs.

The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs will be maintaining and updating the web site on a regular basis. They can also be called at 1-800-242-5846 weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Irene Card & Betsy Chandler are both licensed insurance professionals working at MIC Insurance Services, a health insurance services company. If you have questions relative to this column or other related topics, we invite you to call (973) 492-2828, browse our past columns on our web site at www.micinsurance.com.