With GoodRx, Losing Your Health Insurance Doesn’t Have To Mean Stopping Your Medication

Norma’s severe migraines started about eight years ago. Her symptoms were so bad that she would feel like she was having a stroke, and they often landed her in the hospital. She recalls, “I couldn’t talk, stumbled when I walked, and suffered through a lot of tests before a neurologist diagnosed me with migraines.” She found that topiramate (generic Topomax) gives her the most relief, which is why it’s important for her to keep taking it even if it means having to pay out of pocket.

Along with the topiramate, Norma relies on the antidepressant bupropion XL to function normally. Having struggled with anxiety and depression her whole life, she knows how hard it is to find a treatment that works, and that running out of the medication could be both painful and harmful for her. She explains, “I can’t be off of it for long without risking withdrawal or going into a dark place.”

We asked Norma to break the numbers down for us. Her insurance copay for each medication was just $10 every month. The price of topiramate increased to $100 and bupropion XL became “a whopping $260” once she lost her prescription coverage. (On top of that, her regular Rite-Aid shut down and her prescriptions were transferred to a Walgreens, which is more inconvenient for her to get to where she lives in Los Angeles, California.) With GoodRx, the discounted prices of topiramate and bupropion XL are $64 and $55, respectively—a total of 67% in savings.

Norma also told us that when she first saw the GoodRx commercial on TV, she thought, “What a scam! It sounded too easy, too convenient, and too free!” What changed her mind was facing the exorbitant prices of her medications and deciding she had nothing to lose since there was no cost to join GoodRx and no hassle of signing up. She also checked the reviews on Facebook and saw they were very positive.

Luckily for Norma, she just started a new job that offers great benefits and will pay for 100% of her health insurance. The only catch is that those benefits kick in after two full months of employment, so, for now, she’s still relying on GoodRx to get her medications. We’re glad to be able to help, whether as a temporary patch or a more long-term solution. As Norma says, “Any savings on medicine is helpful when you don’t have insurance. GoodRx really is a tremendous help for people like me.”

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