Don’t take (medical) matters into your own hands

Medications can become expensive, but don’t let cost jeopardize your health. According to Gonzalez, patients should become better educated about their medication options, including their cost, but must be proactive, and ask to be counseled, if that information isn’t readily supplied. “Today’s drugs are so potent and so expensive. Taking them correctly is the key to disease management. Many patients who have reached, or exceeded, their plans max now have to pay a higher fee for their prescriptions and tend to start extending the medications they have by not taking them as prescribed, or not taking them at all. This is a very dangerous practice,” he says. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about plans which may be more affordable for you, and find out which drug manufacturers might be willing to provide you with free or lower-cost medications