In the last decade, there’s been a major trend of individuals crossing America’s northern border into Canada to get their medical prescriptions fulfilled for less than they would have in the United States. Canada’s health care system negotiates directly with prescription drug companies to get their citizens more affordable medications and many Americans have taken advantage of that, legally or otherwise. Fortunately, there are now plenty of ways to get affordable prescription drugs in the United States because of increased market competition and lower costs because of online fulfillment.

A number of different retailers (and their online counterparts) are offering generic drugs for practically nothing. Both Wal-Mart and Target’s electronic storefronts will allow you to fulfill a 30 day supply of selected generic drugs for $4.00 or get a 90 day supply for just $10.00. Kmart is offering a 3 month supply of generic drugs for $15.00. One online pharmacist, called Publix, is even offering 14 day supplies of certain antibiotics for completely free.

There’s another website called Rxaminer that will allow you to enter all of your prescriptions for a $10.00 fee and then let you know of alternative generic brands of the same medicine that would be available for a lot less money. Sometimes you will need to call the doctor back to get the prescription changed, but if you are on a medication for an extended period of time, the $10.00 fee will be well worth it.

There are two new discount programs for low-income seniors to save money on prescription drugs as well. Eli Lilly offers a “LillyAnswers” discount card which will provide low-income senior adults with 30 day supplies of some of their retail drugs, such as Prozac and Vista for just $12.00 a month. The discount card is offered at most major pharmacies, but a married couple must make under $24,000 per year to qualify. GlaxoSmithKline is also offering what they call the “Orange Card” which is available for couples earning less than $35,000 per year. This program is still in development, so you’ll want to check with their website as they roll it out.

Both Wisconsin and Minnesota allow their citizens to import prescription drugs from Canada. Each state has a list of approved Canadian pharmacies that their citizens can legally and safely order prescription drugs from. The prices their citizens pay are extremely competitive because of Canada’s negotiating power with prescription drug companies.

Finally, remember to ask your doctor if there’s a generic equivalent that might be more affordable. Doctors typically do not know the cost of fulfilling any given prescription, so if the price comes back much higher than you can afford, call up your doctor, and see if there are any alternatives that might be less expensive.