Helpful Hints

Using drug coupons; helpful hints:

Present any coupons to the pharmacist BEFORE you fill your prescription. Sometimes the pharmacist or clerk does not know if their store accepts coupons or they may not know how to process the coupons.

When you hand the pharmacist the coupon, he will scrutinize it to make sure it is not expired or has special conditions attached (such as if the coupon is only for a certain quantity or strength). He should be able to tell you right there and then if he can put the coupon through the computer.

If the drugstore refuses the coupons try another store. All of the large chains cheerfully accept drug coupons as long as you meet the terms and conditions of the coupon. They are happy to have your business.

Check your printer. Before you go printing up drug coupons and rebates from your computer, make sure that there is an adequate supply of ink and paper in your printer. Some of the coupons contain bar codes and they may not scan properly unless they are printed nice and clean.

Allow Pop-Ups. Many of the coupons appear on your screen in the form of pop-ups. If you have your pop-up blocker turned on you may not be able to see or print the coupons.

Print up more than one drug coupon or rebate form at a time. If the offer is for a drug that you use on a regular basis, print up several of them and keep them in a safe place such as inside of your medicine cabinet.

Do not photocopy unused drug coupons, print new ones directly from your computer while you are online. Oftentimes, each coupon or rebate form has a unique code number on it so it can only be used once. Each time you print a new one from your computer, the web site treats it as a new request and it assigns a new code number to your coupon.

Read the rebate forms carefully and follow the instructions to the letter. If the rebate form is not filled out EXACTLY THE WAY THEY REQUEST, there is a good chance you will not get your money.

If the rebate form asks you to circle information on the pharmacy receipt such as the name of the drug and the price you paid, make sure you do so. Another common mistake people make is that they send in the rebate forms past the offer's expiration date.

Make sure you provide the insurance receipt as well as the cash register receipt when you are applying for a rebate. The insurance receipt is also called a pharmacy receipt. This receipt is usually stapled onto the little bag your prescription comes in.

This special receipt contains most of the information that is found on the prescription label itself (your name, the date, your doctor's name, the name and strength of the medicine, the pharmacy's address, telephone number and most importantly the price you paid for the medicine).

Keep careful records. Some of pharmaceutical coupons are valuable. For example, the coupon for Stalevo (a Parkinson's Disease medicine) is worth more than $500. Treat the paperwork as though it was an important document such as a mortgage payment.

A good rule of thumb is for you to photocopy everything you mail in to the company that is processing your rebate.

Use Internet Explorer. 90% of all internet users use Internet Explorer and the drug coupon websites are designed to work perfectly with Internet Explorer. You might have trouble printing the coupons if you use other browsers such as Firefox or Symphony.