Lantus and Levemir discount cards

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Ann & Tess GA

Ann & Tess GA

Member Since 2010
Has anyone had success using the Lantus or Levemir discount cards? If so how?At Costco the pharmacist said they weren't useable for pets. You had to have a Physician Identification Number on the Rx and apparently vets or most vets don't have them. When I applied for the card I filled out the form as if for a dependent, but without that PIN on the Rx it wasn't accepted.

Maybe we need to start a write in campaign to the companies to make the discounts available for pets. Many who need these drugs for their pets are more in need of help than humans since most human costs are now covered by insurance and few of us had the fore sight or knowledge of pet insurance years ago when our now elderly pets would have qualified. I for one had not heard of pet insurance until Tess was already Dx.

However, what I did find out was that Levemir is on Costco's "Preferred Drug List" (PDL) for the Costco Member Prescription Program (CMPP). Lantus is not on the PDL. This means that there is a much greater discount on Levemir than Lantus. These are our local prices:
  • ………………………………Levemir…………………………Lantus
    ………………………………5 pens………vial………………5 pens…………vial……
    Non-Member price………$306.12….$195.48…………$337.21…….$206.99
    Member price……………..$258.29….$163.99…………$327.45….…$199.58
You can see that for our Lev we got nearly a $50 member discount compared to less than $10 for Lantus. So if you are on Lev it is worth it to pay the membership fee! But not if you use Lantus. :sad:

Walgreens also has Lev for about the same member price, but their card is only $20 a year. I don't know about the Walgreen price for Lantus, or if you can get the card for pet Rx.
 
I was told that some pharmacists will look the other way and let you use the card. I need to try it soon as well. I did get a bit of a discount using the AAA card with my first vial at Ralphs/Kroger Pharmacy and that was about $176 for a vial of lantus six months ago.
 
I have used the Lantus discount card at my Target pharmacy...I think lucked out in having a couple cool pharmacists there. I know a few others have had luck at their Targets, too, but I do think it is dependant on the store and the individual pharmacists.

Since it's off-label use for pets, I don't know how successful we'd be with a campaign, but it sure couldn't hurt to try.
 
I was also successful in using the Lantus discount card at my local Target. I didn't know that there was a problem if it was not for use on a human. The pharmacists never said that to me and I even told them it was for my cat.

I had a coupon for $25.00 for (5) pens but they told me that they would keep it on file and I would only have to buy them one at a time from them.

I think you local Target is probably a good place to ask and find out for sure.
 
Fruth Pharmacy was the only place I could find that would sell me an individual pen. They let me use the card. So far I've bought three pens. I always wonder each time I go if the card will work. I don't know if I'll be able to use another card after I get my five pens. They know it is for my cat.
 
Hello!

My post is not related to this topic, but I thought some of you could help me deciding on what to do. Right now I have 4 extra Levemir pens that I bought very recently. The problem is that the expiration date of the pens is August 2014 and I don't think I'm going to use more than the one I'm using right now since my Juno is having very small doses of insulin. I wouldn't mind giving the pens to someone who needs it, but I'm living in Denmark, Europe. Do you have any ideas what should I do with the pens? I also thought of taking them to the vet clinic, but I'd prefer to given them to someone who actually needs them.

Cristina

PS: Btw, 5 Levemir pens in Denmark costs 540kr (99USD) ;-)
 
Hi Cristina! I'd try contacting a local shelter or cat rescue to see if they have any FD cats who would be in need of it. You could try posting on the main health forum too. We have a few members in Europe, but there is also the German forum, thye may have more Danish members.
 
I only found a Walgreen's that would accept the card (Levemir) and give a small discount, but buying into their yearly store savings card actually saved more. Not cheap, no matter where we looked. It had gone up almost $100 (for 5 pens) since last time we got Hershey's filled. :o

Libby (& Hershey, too!)
 
Hi Ann!

Thanks for the tips! I have now posted in three different groups of the FDMB forum, on the fb of the FDMB group and sent a message to Diabetic Cats in Need. I could try the German forum too, but I don't speak the language (neither German or Danish) so it's a bit difficult to post there.

Cristina
 
I just called my closest Target pharmacy and was told they would run the card and if it works they will do it. They also will sell individual pens. This Target is in Culver City , California.
 
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