Neurologic Medication Costs in a Direct-to-Consumer Pharmacy vs Commercial Insurance Plans

What is the difference in neurologic medication costs between a direct-to-consumer pharmacy and commercial insurance plans?In this cross-sectional study of 33 medications available for purchase through a direct-to-consumer pharmacy, the direct-to-consumer pharmacy out-of-pocket costs were 75% higher and total costs were 413% lower than commercial pharmacies for neurologic medications.These results suggest that a direct-to-consumer pharmacy has the potential to reduce total prescription drug medication costs and offers similar out-of-pocket costs for uninsured patients to conventional pharmacies in commercial insurance plans.

Corresponding Author: James F. Burke, MD, Department of Neurology, Division of Health Services Research, Wexner Medical Center, The Ohio State University, 410 W 10th Ave, Columbus, OH 43210 (james.burke@osumc.edu).

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