Everyone at Rx Savings Solutions, from CEO to summer intern, fields the question at some point: Are you like GoodRx?
Credit GoodRx for becoming a household name and the point of comparison for every pharmacy savings tool. But the question itself reflects the confusion and complexity that permeates the pharmacy landscape.
Yes, we both help consumers pay less for prescriptions. However, Rx Savings Solutions and GoodRx don’t compete in the same space. While we’re both treating the same condition—the highest per-capita medication costs in the world—we do take different approaches.
How We Save People Money
GoodRx makes it very easy: Enter your medication and dose in the desktop or mobile app and find coupons for discounted cash prices at major pharmacies close to you. If you don’t have insurance, you can’t beat GoodRx. And sometimes that discounted cash price is cheaper than a person’s price with insurance.
Rx Savings Solutions looks at every member’s prescription claims and matches them to cost-saving opportunities within the client health plan’s formulary, plan design and pharmacy network.
Like GoodRx, we strive for simplicity. There’s just more to simplify. A savings opportunity could be a generic, a different pharmacy, tablets instead of capsules, splitting a higher dose (or multiplying a smaller one), a different drug in the same class, or filling a combination of active ingredients separately. You’ll often see multiple lower-cost options, presented in order of dollar value.
Business Models
Both GoodRx and Rx Savings Solutions are free for the consumers who use us. Who pays the freight?
GoodRx gets a share of every prescription that’s filled at a pharmacy using a GoodRx coupon. Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) collect these fees from the dispensing pharmacies and give a portion to GoodRx or any discount card vendor that directs the patient to that pharmacy.
Rx Savings Solutions is offered to employers and health plans for a monthly fee based on the number of eligible members on each plan.
Impact on Deductibles
The nice thing about GoodRx is you download the coupon, take it to the pharmacy, and drive away with a lower price for your same medication. Simple, but not always the best option.
For example, there may be a different, equally effective drug that costs less under your insurance plan than a GoodRx discount against the cash price. Even if the cost with insurance is above the GoodRx coupon price, the covered drug (or alternative) may be the smarter way to go. Why?
Prices paid for a covered drug are applied to your annual deductible; discounted cash prices are not. People on high-deductible or Medicare plans can’t pay down deductibles with medications purchased through GoodRx. That’s important for many people, depending on their or their household’s annual healthcare expenses and plan choice.
Change Management
Consumers simply want the most clinically and cost-effective medication for their conditions.
You can check coupon prices for clinical alternatives to your current prescription on GoodRx—it just takes a few more clicks. Rx Savings Solutions shows you every clinically appropriate alternative on your plan’s preferred drug list (a.k.a. formulary) right away, along with their prices at your preferred pharmacy and others near you.
Chances are these are savings opportunities you never knew existed, which is why we send out proactive, personalized notifications to every member with an opportunity.
If you discover a lower-cost alternative on GoodRx, it’s up to you to get in touch with your prescribing physician, ask for approval, and get a new prescription sent to the pharmacy. We know that’s a step most consumers won’t take on their own. Even if they do, it can be a hassle and requires time they’ll never get back. Rx Savings Solutions takes care of everything in one click, tap or call. There’s an entire support team of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians ready to help navigate a new or transferred prescription or anything else a member needs.
Same Problem, Different Solution
Prior to GoodRx and Rx Savings Solutions, consumers had nowhere to turn with expensive prescriptions. Thanks to GoodRx, millions of people find relief, and anyone can use it. That’s a good thing.
Rx Savings Solutions delivers the same kind of relief while satisfying the plan design. That helps patients and payers, alike. And that’s good for everyone.
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