Help with prescription drugs.

[Marche exile]

My husband and I have just arrived and we had to get some drugs that my husband takes on a regular basis. He saw a doctor here and got a prescription. When he went to the Pharmacy he was charged £700 for them!!! Can anyone tell me if we can get some type of subsidised rate here. Before here we were in Italy where as a resident you had a subsidised rate or even free drugs when you paid once a year (350 euros) in to the health system.
We have DNI coming so does that make a difference? Is there any such plan we can pay into?
If anyone can help I'd be very grateful.
Many thanks.

 

[steveinbsas]

My husband and I have just arrived and we had to get some drugs that my husband takes on a regular basis. He saw a doctor here and got a prescription. When he went to the Pharmacy he was charged £700 for them!!! Can anyone tell me if we can get some type of subsidised rate here. Before here we were in Italy where as a resident you had a subsidised rate or even free drugs when you paid once a year (350 euros) in to the health system.
We have DNI coming so does that make a difference? Is there any such plan we can pay into?
If anyone can help I'd be very grateful.
Many thanks.

Most private medical plans offer a 40% discount on prescriptions, but this is obvioulsly a pre-existing condition. It doesn't matter if you are a resident. Foreigners can enoll in private plans here regardless of resident status, but pre-existing conditions are always a consideation with the private plans.

I hope someone else can offer a better solution to your problem. You indicated that you just arrived. How long do you plan to stay? I also wonder why you never did any reseach about this prior to your aririval. Did you just assume that drugs would be almost free here, too?

I'm sorry to tell you they aren't...at least as far as I know.


If anyone has a solution for this problem please post now!

 

[Zissou]

There are many generic brands here that are much less costly than name-brand, or similar products to those you may be using made here or in Brazil.... You could ask a doctor or even start by asking a pharmacist. I've known several people who far prefer the generic/ foreign versions of what they get at home that they get here...

 

[steveinbsas]

There are many generic brands here that are much less costly than name-brand, or similar products to those you may be using made here or in Brazil.... You could ask a doctor or even start by asking a pharmacist. I've known several people who far prefer the generic/ foreign versions of what they get at home that they get here...

I had a friend who was recently bitten on the hand by one of his own dogs (trying to break up a dog fight).

Several days later his hand STILL Looked like a baseball glove even though he was taking antibiotics from the neighborhood pharmacy.

When he had takien all of the medication (without significant improvement) I took the (empty) box to a reputible pharmacy in the city center.

The pharmacist shook his head and gave me "real" drugs.

Two days later my friend's hand looked normal.

 

[Marche exile]

Most private medical plans offer a 40% discount on prescriptions, but this is obvioulsly a pre-existing condition. It doesn't matter if you are a resident. Foreigners can enoll in private plans here regardless of resident status, but pre-existing conditions are always a consideation with the private plans.

I hope someone else can offer a better solution to your problem. You indicated that you just arrived. How long do you plan to stay? I also wonder why you never did any reseach about this prior to your aririval. Did you just assume that drugs would be almost free here, too?

I'm sorry to tell you they aren't...at least as far as I know.


If anyone has a solution for this problem please post now!

Hi there.
Thanks for the info and as always we can always rely on you to say it as it is . We are just not expats here and everywhere we have been we have never taken anything like that for granted. I just always assume that anywhere we go its going to be a third world country and am trying to be pleasantly surprised. All of his drugs are covered by his insurance, I was just wondering if there was a way to lower that cost because anyone is going to get pissed off having to pay that amount (5.500 pesos) Which is probably about 3 times as much as they are worth else where in the world. If there is a way, all the better. Were going to be here for two years so we will just sort something out from home or over the internet delivered elsewhere.
Are you the the guy with the horses? Did you ever get your bridle? If its the nylon type you can have one made. If I had the machine here I could.
Thanks again for the info.