How Generic Drugs Can Help You Save Money on Your Prescriptions

A very smart way to lower your health-care costs is to look seriously at what you’re paying for prescription drugs.

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report says that competition among makers of generic medications can translate into more affordable prices for consumers.

How Generic Drugs Can Help You Save on Health Costs

Money expert Clark Howard is a big fan of paying as little as possible for your prescription medications. In this article, I’ll show you why generic drugs are usually the cheapest way to go and how you can save money by using them.

What Are Generic Drugs?

Generic drugs are medications that are manufactured to be equivalent to brand-name drugs in key areas such as performance, safety and intended use.

Before they make it to stores and pharmacies, generic drugs must meet a battery of rigorous standards, according to the FDA. Here are a few:

• The active ingredient must be the same as the name-brand drug.
• The medication must have the same application.
• The drug must match the name-brand when it comes to product type (tablet or injectable) and strength.

The FDA’s website has a list of approved generic prescription medications. Let’s take a look at some of the more popular ones. I’ve also added some conditions that drugs are used for, according to GoodRx.

Popular FDA-Approved Generic Drugs

Brand-Name Medication	Generic Medication	Condition(s) Used For
Ambien	Zolpidem	Insomnia
Ativan	Lorazepam	Anxiety
Flonase	Fluticasone	Itching
Pepcid	Famotidine	Ulcers
Prilosec	Omeprazole	Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
Prozac	Fluoxetine	Depression, eating disorders
Tylenol with Codeine	Acetaminophen with Codeine	Mild to moderate pain
Ultram	Tramadol	Moderate to severe pain
Xanax	Alprazolam	Anxiety, panic attacks
Zoloft	Sertraline	Depression, social anxiety

Final Thoughts

The #1 way to find out if there is a generic drug that you can use instead of a brand name is to simply ask a pharmacist.

Clark suggests that you partner with your doctor to find cheaper alternatives to the brand-name prescription medications that he or she may want to prescribe for you.

“Doctors have no idea what prescriptions cost. So a doctor will write a prescription based on what they think is the best thing for you,” Clark says. “But maybe you can find something just about as good that instead of costing $100 will cost you $4. That’s a big difference!”

If you need to research some prescription medication, look it up on the FDA’s list of approved drugs.

If you are unable to use generics or you’re simply looking for more ways to lower the cost of your meds, read Team Clark’s guide on how to save on prescriptions.