One of the things that we’d wanted to accomplish internationally is getting prescription medications. Turns out that in Mexico my cholesterol medicine does not even require a prescription.
Yesterday I walked to a nearby farmacia and showed the woman at the counter a screenshot of the medicine I’ve been taking and the dose and I asked, “Se puede comprar esto aqui?” ( can you buy this here?)
To which she answered, “Sí, por supuesto.” (yes of course)
In a few moments she came back with a box and pointed out that it was a double set with two batches of 30 pills. I then asked. “Cuánto cuesta?” ( how much ).
To which she responded, “trescientos, treinta cinco pesos” (335 pesos, about 17 dollars US.)
60 days of generic Lipitor for 17 dollars, no insurance, no prescription. In the US, Lipitor without insurance costs over $400 for a 30 day supply! Generics (which is what I’ve been using) without insurance for my dosage would be something like $60 for 30 doses according to goodrx. So it’s far less here without insurance.
On the other hand, in the US with my work-provided health insurance, I was paying $16 dollars for 90 days. Here in Mexico it’s $17 for 60 days without insurance. So it’s a little more out of pocket now than before, but of course that doesn’t cover the doctor’s visit which I don’t need here.
I’m happy with how this has gone so far. Not having to work and having my medicine be affordable is a fair trade, in my opinion.
