Show 1046: How to Save Money on Prescription Drugs

Prescription medications cost more in the US than anywhere else in the world. What's behind the high cost of these drugs? How are insurance companies and other payers coping with costs?

How Can You Save Money on Your Prescriptions?

With the price of medicines rising much faster than the general rate of inflation, smart strategies to shop for prescriptions are essential. Get tips on how you can save money on your medicines from Lisa Gill of Best Buy Drugs at Consumer Reports. Vinay Prasad, MD, describes how critical treatments such as those for cancer or hepatitis C came to cost so much.

This Week's Guests:

Lisa Gill is deputy content editor of Best Buy Drugs for Consumer Reports. The website is www.consumerreports.org/cro/health/prescription-drugs/best-buy-drugs/index.htm

Vinay Prasad, MD, MPH, is assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology Oncology in the Knight Cancer Institute. He is also a senior scholar in the Center for Health Care Ethics in the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Oregon Health and Sciences University.

His website is http://www.vinayakkprasad.com/ Dr. Prasad is co-author, with Dr. Adam Cifu, of the book, Ending Medical Reversal: Improving Outcomes, Saving Lives.