Buying Prescription Drugs From Canada

Until 2023, I happily visited Sugar River Pharmacy in Newport every month for all our family's prescription medicines. I can't say enough good things about them. They still answer the telephone in person. They recognize the regulars by sight, instead of asking who you are. They're very helpful.

So it was with a heavy heart that I took elsewhere a prescription for Flovent, an inhaler I use daily. Without it, I'd eventually struggle to breathe and end up in an emergency room. Here's what happened.

After paying $40 to $50 per month for Flovent the past few years, in 2023 my out-of-pocket cost was jacked up to $211 a month. It wasn't the pharmacy raising the price; they collect an amount dictated by the insurer. But this year the insurer (Anthem) decided the consumer should shoulder the full insured cost.

Remember that's $211 a month if you have our insurance. Without any insurance, you'd pay the manufacturer's price, which tops $500 a month.

At the start of 2023, Anthem sent a letter encouraging us to switch to local pharmacies it has designated as "preferred." I visited the "preferred" pharmacies, where the price was also $211 per month. Even at CVS (which has a special contract with Anthem), the pharmacist glanced at the $211 copay on her screen and said, "That can't be right. After it's processed, we'll get the right number."

Turns out $211 was the right number. However, shelling out $211 every month for this one medicine simply was not in the financial cards.

I telephoned Anthem in March and spoke politely to a rep named Laura. Turns out I now have to meet a $3,000 deductible before better coverage kicks in. That's $211 a month until at least October, and perhaps for the full year.

"But," I asked, "in prior years I never had to pay more in a year's earlier months, waiting for a deductible to be met. Why has that changed?"

Laura verified I was correct. The inhaler had always been filled for the regular copay without regard for any deductible. She couldn't explain the change in procedure. Laura kindly put in an appeal on my behalf, but the appeal was denied.

I did my due diligence in November 2022 when we chose our plan for 2023. Flovent in 2023 – as had been the case in 2022 – is supposedly covered by the insurance, as a Preferred Tier 2 drug. Same in both years. Yet Anthem was no longer paying anything on my behalf. Which left me feeling cheated.

Anthem recommended I switch to its preferred mail-order house for my Flovent. A three-month supply would be $466. Which comes to about $155/month. While better than $211 a month, that's still not good.

So, what can a budget-conscious consumer do? Me, I turned to Canada.

How does one arrange for drugs from Canada?

First step I recommend is to look at a large list of pharmacies sanctioned by the Canadian International Pharmacy Association. Go to cipa.com/cipa-safe-pharmacies for the full list of websites with the CIPA seal of approval. There's more than 50. Then explore them, more or less at random, until you find one with the drug, dosage, and pricing you prefer. You'll need a prescription and proof of ID.

Although ordered from Canada, the drugs are not necessarily manufactured in Canada (just as many drugs dispensed in the U.S. are not manufactured domestically); and they might be shipped from anywhere.

My three-month supply from Canada (for a generic equivalent seemingly unavailable in the United States) came to $126.40, plus $9.95 shipping. Even with shipping (it shipped from Belgium), that's $46 a month. Not $211. And remember, that's the price without using any insurance. And everyone still made a profit!

Can't wait until I qualify for Medicare (in about 1,500 days) and a degree of sanity gets restored to our family's drug prices.