Blink Health — An Additional Tool in Finding the Lowest Drug Prices
The article “Taming Drug Prices by Pulling Back the Curtain Online” in the New York Times (February 10, 2016) features a new website, Blink Health, which shows reduced drug prices available through local U.S. pharmacies. Its limitation is that savings are mostly on generic drugs, which, for the most part, are already fairly inexpensive. Describing Blink and a similar site, GoodRx, the article notes that, “The sites cannot help much with brand-name drugs, which are made by a single manufacturer and carry prices that can be as high as hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
The article fails to mention that the largest pharmacy savings on the Internet are from international online pharmacies which can offer you the lowest prices worldwide. These prices can be found on PharmacyChecker.com, which “pulls back the curtain” even further than Blink Health and GoodRx by exposing the huge gap (often more than 80%) between drug prices in the U.S. and those in other countries — such as Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Turkey, and the UK. You can also find discounted local U.S. pharmacy prices on PharmacyChecker.com.
The table below shows the lowest prices on popular brand name drugs found on PharmacyChecker.com, BlinkHealth.com, and GoodRx.com in comparison to regular U.S. pharmacy pricing.
Lowest Prices and Greatest Savings on Brand Name Drugs Using PharmacyChecker, Blink Health, and GoodRx
| Drug Name (Strength and Quantity*) | PharmacyChecker (PC) | Blink Health (BH) | GoodRx (GR) | Regular Price at Local Pharmacy | Greatest Savings Off Regular Price (Source) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advair Diskus (250-50; 180 doses ) | $100.99 | Not Available | $946.72 | $1,179.00 | 91% (PC) |
| Crestor (10 mg; 90 pills) | $44.99 | $779.64 | $718.12 | $870.00 | 95% (PC) |
| Eliquis (5 mg; 180 pills) | $391.99 | $1,046.28 | $961.67 | $1,141.00 | 66% (PC) |
| Januvia (100 mg; 90 pills) | $101.15 | $1,139.64 | $1,046.94 | $1,290.00 | 92% (PC) |
| Xarelto (20 mg; 90 pills) | $347.59 | $1,045.31 | $960.81 | $1,141.00 | 70% (PC) |
Prices as of February 10, 2016
* Quantity represents a standard 3 month supply.
