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Email template to ask a pharmacy for the cash price of a medicine

Your copay feels high, your deductible has not been met, or you have no drug coverage at all, and you want to know what a medicine actually costs if you simply pay for it. The cash price is the price the pharmacy charges when insurance is not involved, and it varies enormously between stores in the same town for the very same pill. It is often lower than a copay, and discount cards can drop it further. Asking a few pharmacies by email gets you comparable numbers without standing at a counter while someone looks it up.

Before you send

  • The medicine name, strength, and whether generic is acceptable. Generic is usually a fraction of the brand price.
  • The quantity and days supply you want, for example 90 tablets for 90 days. Ninety-day fills are often cheaper per pill.
  • Whether you want the price with any discount card they accept, and the name of the card if you have one.
  • The prescriber's name, in case they want to confirm the prescription exists.
  • A list of two or three other pharmacies nearby, so you can send the same email to each and compare.
Subject Cash price for [medicine name and strength], [quantity] 
Hi [pharmacy name] team,

I'd like to know what the following would cost if I pay without using insurance:

Medicine: [medicine name and strength]
Quantity: [number of tablets] for a [number] day supply
Generic acceptable: [yes or no]

Could you send me:

- Your cash price for that quantity
- The price for a 90 day supply, if it differs per pill
- The price with any discount program you accept, and what I would need to do to use it

Prescriber is [doctor name] if you need to check. I am comparing a few pharmacies and will fill wherever the price is best, so a written number is helpful.

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Phone number]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • Prices back from three pharmacies often differ by more than you expect for the same generic. Fill wherever it is cheapest.
  • If a price looks high, ask whether a 90 day supply or a different tablet strength changes it. Two 25 mg tablets are sometimes cheaper than one 50 mg.
  • Independent pharmacies frequently beat chains on generics and are more willing to quote in writing. Include at least one in your comparison.
  • Tell the pharmacy you are paying cash before they run it through insurance. Once a claim is filed, some pharmacies will not switch you to the cash price on the same fill.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject Find me the cheapest cash price for a medicine 
Hi StandIn,

I'd like you to find out what a medicine costs without insurance and tell me which pharmacy is cheapest.

The medicine: [name, strength, quantity, and days supply].
Generic acceptable: [yes or no].
Where I am: [zip code or the pharmacies I want asked].
My prescriber: [doctor name].

Ask several pharmacies near me, including at least one independent, get the cash price and the discount card price in writing from each, and bring me the numbers side by side.

Thanks,
[Your name]

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