Pharmacy Notes

Save money with generic drugs

One way to safely reduce your prescription costs is to use generic drugs when appropriate. Generics provide the same reliable, high-quality medication as their brand-name versions, but at lower prices. These savings are passed to you in the form of lower copayments.

Generics have the same active ingredients as their brand-name equivalents.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) puts every potential generic drug through a rigorous review. From quality and performance to manufacturing and labeling, every aspect of bringing a generic drug to market must meet the FDA’s standards.

Because drug manufacturers spend large sums of money on research and development, these costs are built into the price of brand-name drugs. Manufacturers of generics have much lower costs — and the savings are passed along.

Zocor and Zoloft go generic
More generic drugs are becoming available all the time. In the last year, drug manufacturers produced generic versions of widely prescribed drugs such as Zocor for cholesterol control and Zoloft for treatment of depression. More are on the way for common medical conditions, including heartburn, allergies, and high blood pressure.

Talk to your doctor or pharmacist to determine whether a certain generic drug is available and appropriate for you.

Visit upmchealthplan.com for an easy-to-use searchable formulary that offers more information on specific drugs.