Back to School Is Expensive. Medications Don’t Have to Be.

A chalkboard has "Back to School" written on it; a desk includes school supplies, an apple and a prescription drug bottleKids are either excited or bummed out about going back to school. Either way, it’s a crazy time of year for parents. And crazy expensive.

According to last year’s Deloitte Back-to-School Survey, the average spending per child for school supplies was $104 and $284 for clothing and accessories. Throw in computers and other electronic gadgets and the average spend was another $561 per child.

For parents with kids on regular medications, prescription refills are an often-forgotten item on the back-to-school list. Sometimes they’re stored in the school nurse’s office, which means buying extra for school.

These are typically intermittent-fill prescriptions like asthma inhalers, emergency treatment allergy drugs like EpiPens¨, and attention deficit disorder medications. If the kids only needed to have them at home for the past three months—or could skip them through summer—now one or more refills may be needed for the new school year.

Rx Savings Solutions pharmacists looked at our members’ savings opportunities across these intermittent-fill categories and found an average savings of $194 per fill!

Everywhere you turn it seems there’s a back-to-school sale or promotion somewhere. Too bad there are no sales on prescription drugs. With Rx Savings Solutions, members can at least shop for the best options.

Is a $200 name-brand backpack worth more than a lower-cost version? At least you know all your choices with backpacks. That’s what Rx Savings Solutions delivers for prescription drugs.

Speaking of EpiPens

In May, the FDA issued a warning about EpiPen shortages. Months later there are still spot shortages in the United States.

Because epinephrine can last up to a year before it expires, it’s common for families to wait until the new school year to fill the prescription. That stresses supplies further. However, the FDA just approved Teva’s generic epinephrine auto-injector, which should help availability and affordability.

If members need to find a refill—or want to look for lower-cost EpiPen alternatives—Rx Savings Solutions can help! The newly approved generic, Adrenaclick¨ and Auvi-Q¨ can all do the same job as EpiPen. Costs will vary depending on health plan.

Everyone loves saving money, but with emergency medications like the EpiPen, understanding all your options may be even more important. Again, that’s where Rx Savings Solutions comes in.