Think Generic and Save

If you're a savvy shopper, you'll compare drug prices and choose the medication that fits you best and costs the least. Nobody but you will know the difference.

Switching to generic drugs could save you up to 80 percent per prescription. Thanks to a tidal wave of brand-name drugs losing patent protection, more generics are available than ever before.

If your medication hasn't gone generic yet, you're not out of luck. Ask your doctor if there is a similar generic drug in the same therapeutic class. The most common conditions -- high cholesterol, depression, allergies and diabetes -- all have generics available, says Ron Fontanetta, a principal at the benefits consulting firm Towers Perrin.

Switching to a generic on some company health plans could save you $30 in a snap on the co-payment.

Here's a further incentive: generic drugs for $4. Wal-Mart and its warehouse retailer, Sam's Club, started the ball rolling in 2006, offering 30-day supplies of some drugs for just $4. The program has expanded to more than 360 medications. Target has a $4 drug program that includes 315 medications; Walgreens offers 90-day supplies of some 300 generics for $12.99.

Costco jumped on the $4 bandwagon early on, but it dropped that approach and switched to a program of 100 pills for $10 because of lost revenue. One regional grocery chain, Giant Eagle, now offers 400 generic drugs for $4. Meijer, another regional chain, offers seven common antibiotics free. Missing in action? Big names CVS and Rite Aid.

For chronic conditions, most employers offer mail-order programs through a prescription benefit manager such as Caremark. You order a 90-day supply, instead of enough for 30 days, and not only does the provider often ship your meds free, but you typically pay the equivalent of only two monthly co-pays instead of three. So for a formulary brand that runs you $20 a month, four 90-day supplies for a year would cost $160, versus the $240 you'd pay at the local pharmacy.

Getting started is easy -- simply ask your doctor to write you a new prescription that specifies 90-day quantities. Then log on to the Web site of the benefit manager your employer uses, register, and send in your prescription and order form.

Kiplinger's doesn't recommend buying drugs from companies outside the United States. Importing drugs (except in person from Canada) is illegal, as is buying drugs from Canada online. You could be sold fake, weak or tainted meds. With so many other safe and legal ways to cut your costs, it's not worth the risk.