What made Jules sicker than her strep throat was the price Kroger wanted to charge her for a 6-pack of generic Azithromycin. $38.72! “That’s highway robbery!” she told the them. Then Jules stumbled onto something most people don’t know that could save them serious money on prescription medication: you can price-match your pills.

Hearing her complaint, one of the Kroger pharmacy workers piped up and said that they price-match Costco, and went ahead and made the call. Jules ended up getting her medication for $8.42, saving more than $30. Speaking up pays off once again.

Incidentally, brand-name Zithromax would have cost a pretty penny at $80.

Lots of pharmacies will price-match their competitors. Chicago Now called seven different pharmacies and got a breakdown of their policies, here’s the results:

Price-matchers *:

Target – anyone except Costco or other discount warehouse stores
Walmart – anyone except Costco or other discount warehouse stores. Limit three times on the same prescription.
Kroger – anyone
Kmart – anyone in a 2 mile radius
Osco – anyone
CVS – anyone except $4-$5 prescriptions, Costco or otherwarehouse stores

Won’t pricematch: Costco

* policies may vary by store. Call ahead in advance to be sure.

So if you’re buying meds and you wonder if you’re getting the best deal, see if the pharmacy will price-match a cheaper competitor. You could rack up some major savings.

For more ways to save on prescription medication, check out our publishing sibling Consumer Reports free Best Buy Drugs report. They also have advice on how to shop around for the best deals at pharmacies and 10 ways to reduce your drug costs. And if you’re still uncertain about the folly of paying more for brand-name meds, this fun infographic should be pretty convincing.

Bargain hunting at pharmacies? Try asking for price matching. [Chicago Now]

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