It is important that Mainers know they can now comparison shop for the price of their prescription drugs! Recently, Rep. Elaine Makas introduced a law and successfully saw it through to legislation that requires pharmacies to provide the cost of prescriptions should you inquire before ordering it. Often in the past, pharmacies would tell the inquiring clients that the price would be available only when they came to pick up their prescription.

In a survey of the pharmacies in the Lewiston/Auburn area, Rep. Makas found that common prescription drugs averaged approximately a 36 percent difference from the highest price to the lowest; however, one diabetic medication was 65 percent lower. Note, that although a pharmacy may be the lowest for one medication, their prices could vary considerably for other medications.

So as the saying goes: “You’d better shop around!”

Helen Mekis, Lewiston