Find best buy for drugs at new site - from Suddenly Senior

Pawlenty touts tool for comparing pharmacy rates

BY JEREMY OLSON

Pioneer Press Jun. 23, 2006

[The site: http://www.crbestbuydrugs.com/]

Minnesotans can now use a state Web site to shop for pharmacies that charge the lowest drug prices.

Shopping for affordable prescription drugs used to be guesswork, Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Thursday, but the new Web feature gives people credible pricing information from more than 1,000 pharmacies in Minnesota and some border towns.

He also commended a partnership of Minnesota health care leaders that is promoting greater use of a Consumer Reports Web site that recommends "best buy" drugs based on their cost, safety and effectiveness.

"Minnesota leads the nation in finding innovative and creative ways to add affordability to prescription medicines," the governor said.

The Web sites can be used in tandem, said Gail Shearer, a senior policy director for Consumers Union, the advocacy group that publishes Consumer Reports. People can check the best buy recommendations to determine which drugs are best for them, she said, and then use the state Web site to find the pharmacy with the cheapest price.

Consumers Union recommends generic lovastatin, for example, for people who need mild reductions in their cholesterol. A Blaine resident could then use the state Web site to discover that the local Rainbow Pharmacy offered the cheapest price in town -- $30.58 for a 30-tablet supply of
20-milligram pills. In St. Paul, the cheapest price of $28.70 turns up at the downtown HealthEast pharmacy. Shoppers at the Fridley Sam's Club get one of the best deals in the state: $19.10.

Prices of 200 common drugs are based on amounts the pharmacies charged within the past 12 months to the state's Medical Assistance program. If pharmacies didn't seek state reimbursement for certain drugs, their price information isn't listed for those drugs.

"The prices aren't guaranteed," said Kevin Goodno, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services, "but they give consumers a starting point."

He added that pharmacy costs vary, and no one pharmacy offers the lowest prices for all prescriptions. Based on experiences in other states, he said it is possible the Minnesota Web site would compel high-cost pharmacies to lower their prices.

The information is most beneficial to the uninsured, or people who pay out-of-pocket for prescription drugs. The information also could help seniors with Medicare Part D drug plans avoid reaching the "doughnut" in which they become responsible for all drug costs. But health officials at Thursday's announcement said the cost information would help people whose insurance benefits come with high deductibles.

Jeremy Olson can be reached at jolson@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5583.

To shop for the best prices on prescription drugs in Minnesota, go to: www.minnesotarxconnect.com.

To find the "best buy" recommendations of prescription drugs by Consumer Reports, go to: www.crbestbuydrugs.org.