GoodRx vs. CVS vs. Costco: Where Retirees Save the Most on Prescriptions
Written by
David Nadelle
Edited by
Zuri Anderson
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In the U.S., prescription medications are now seen as essential to daily life. According to KFF research, “About six in 10 adults say they are currently taking at least one prescription drug, and a quarter say they currently take four or more prescription medications.”
For years, the high cost of prescription medications has been a contentious issue in the United States. In a 2022 study by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) and RAND Health Care, prices for all drugs in the U.S. were almost 2.78 times higher than in comparison countries.
Retirees on fixed incomes need to know where their medications cost the least, especially when they — and healthcare costs in general — are outpacing inflation. Here’s some things to consider when buying from GoodRx, CVS and Costco.
GoodRx: Making Prescription Drugs Affordable
GoodRx is a free-to-use mobile app and website that checks with more than 70,000 U.S. outlets to find the best prices on prescription drugs. The telemedicine platform will connect you with the lowest-cost pharmacy in your area and offer coupons that can save you 80% to 85% off the list price of generic drugs, per the GoodRx site.
GoodRx isn’t immune to erratic pricing, and “patients may encounter barriers when accessing the ‘lowest price pharmacy,’ such as geographic limitations or inconvenience,” Science Direct said. However, compared to drugstores, wholesalers and many other direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmacies (like Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company [MCCPDC] and Amazon RXPass), it’s considered the best outlet for seniors to buy medications, especially higher-priced generics.
CVS: Convenient and Accessible
CVS has over 9,000 locations in the U.S. and if you have CVS/Caremark drug coverage, you can save money on several dozen choice generics by filling your prescription at a CVS pharmacy or through CVS.com. It’s easy to see why so many retirees turn to CVS for convenience, but not for prescription costs.
In 2018, Consumer Reports (CR) ran a secret shoppers study and found that a basket of five generic medications cost slightly more than $100 at Costco, while the same bunch came in over $900 at CVS/Target (the most expensive of the 10 pharmacy outlets scrutinized). Sure, 2018 may seem like a lifetime ago, but things haven’t changed much.
Unless you can get prescriptions partially covered by your insurer, copay or patient assistance program, seniors should expect to pay much more for medications at CVS than using GoodRx-assisted discounts or shopping at wholesalers, like Costco.
Costco: Low-Cost Medication and Supplements
Costco’s unbeatable bulk pricing extends to its pharmacy. Buying vitamins and supplements require a membership, but you don’t need to be a member to fill prescriptions. However, if you’re a member, you’ll get sizable discounts — especially on non-urgent, generic or maintenance drugs — that are often far less expensive than drugstores like CVS, per Consumer Affairs.
In fact, in its report, CR found only HealthWarehouse.com beat Costco in price. Retirees should always check with GoodRx first, but more often than not, prices on generic versions of drugs like Propecia (Finasteride or Proscar), Viagra (Sildenafil Citrate), Lipitor (Atorvastatin) and Prozac (Fluoxetine HCL) can’t be beat.
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