Go for Generic Drugs

As retail prescription prices have risen at nearly triple the inflation rate
for most of the past decade, companies have been passing along more of
those costs to their employees. Since 2000, for instance, employee
co-payments for drugs on a health plan's nonpreferred list (usually
expensive brand names) soared 94%.

Alarmingly, many consumers are responding to these increases in ways
that endanger their health. Many avoid going to the doctor, some do not
get prescriptions filled, and some people take less than the recommended
dosage. If their out-of-pocket drug costs continue to go up like this, people
may sharply increase such risky behaviors.

To cut the cost of medication, going for generic drugs must be your first
step and, believe it, it is a safe way if you take care to check one thing or
two. If your doctor prescribes a brand-name drug, always ask if there's a
generic equivalent -- that is, a drug usually known by its chemical name
that is virtually identical to the better-known drug.

Generics retail for 70% less on average than brand names and carry
average co-pays of only $9 vs. $20 for brand names (and nearly $100 for
some top-tier brand names) -- yet you give up nothing in quality.

Generics must meet the same Food and Drug Administration effectiveness
and safety standards as their brand-name counterparts. Half are actually
made by the same company that puts out the brand-name version. A new
crop of generic drugs comes to market every year as the patent protection
on the brand-name version expires. Among the drugs expected to go off
patent in the U.S. either this year or next are commonly prescribed brand
names such as Zocor (cholesterol-lowering) and Zoloft (antidepressant).