If the cost of prescription medications makes you feel as if you are burning through money, consider switching to generic versions of the brand-name medications you take. Generic medications cost less and work the same way as the brand-name ones.

Generic medications are safe alternatives to brand-name medications. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires that generic medications have the same quality, safety, and dosages as their brand-name versions.

Why Generics Cost Less
When a medication is first made, it is covered by a patent. When the patent expires, other companies can make and sell that medication, without having to pay for research and development. They can pass those savings on to you.

According to the Annals of Internal Medicine, people ages 65 and older could save about $78 per person every year by using generics. Based on the copay structures for 2008, members of a Medicare prescription plan from Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey can save anywhere from $50 to $65 per month when they use a generic medication, depending on the plan they are enrolled in.

How to Switch
To find out whether your brand-name medications are offered in a generic version, talk with your physician or pharmacist. When you ask them to, many physicians will write prescriptions for generic versions of medications. You can also ask your pharmacist to get your physician’s permission to switch your prescription from brand-name to generic.

Not all brand-name medications have a generic version—particularly new medicines. The following table shows a list of some brand-name medications that may become available in generic form in 2008.

To find out whether a generic or brand-name medication is covered by your plan, check your formulary. Visit our Web site at www.HorizonBlue.com/Medicare or call the toll-free number on your Horizon BCBSNJ ID card.