Five kinds of help, and the one you need depends on your insurance
Prescription help comes in different forms. Understanding the differences helps you choose which requirements to check.
Select your insurance for a starting point.
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All five, side by side
Category descriptions are general guidance; confirm the current offer. †
Select your insurance for a starting point. Every option below still depends on its own terms; this is not an eligibility decision.
Check individual terms
Patient Assistance Program (PAP)
A manufacturer or nonprofit may supply medication free or at reduced cost. Eligibility and covered medications depend on the specific program.
How it works
What it costs you
Program-specific
Income tested
Often
Process
Application and periodic renewal
Watch for
Income, insurance, residency and renewal rules vary. Check the current source for your medication; an insurance category alone is not an eligibility decision.
An online pharmacy that sells hundreds of generic medications at a published price: manufacturing cost plus a flat 15% markup, a pharmacy labor fee, and shipping. You (or your doctor) send them your prescription and they mail the medication to you.
no membership fee; pay the listed drug price plus shipping and tax at checkout
Who can use it and what to check
Anyone buying a generic drug on their list, with or without insurance, who wants to compare a transparent cash price against their pharmacy or insurance copay.
Only stocks the drugs it lists (mostly generics, some brand-name); prescriptions are filled by their pharmacy partner, not your local pharmacy; insurance is accepted on many medications, but only for a limited, named list of ~28 prescription plans (per their own FAQ) -- most patients will still pay the listed cash price, and should check with their own insurer whether Cost Plus Drugs is in-network before assuming a claim can be filed.
An online pharmacy run by Amazon that fills prescriptions and ships them to your address. It accepts most insurance plans and also shows a cash price if you don't use insurance.
free to sign up and use; Prime members can add RxPass for $5/month for eligible medications
Who can use it and what to check
Anyone who wants prescriptions delivered and compared against their insurance copay; Prime members get an extra discount option called RxPass.
RxPass only covers a limited list of eligible medications, not every drug; cash prices shown online can change; you still need a valid prescription from a US-based provider.
A pharmacy inside Costco warehouses and online at rx.costco.com that fills prescriptions, often at lower cash prices than a typical retail pharmacy. It accepts most insurance plans.
pharmacy purchases generally do not require a paid Costco membership under most state pharmacy laws, but policies can vary by location; confirm with your local Costco pharmacy
Who can use it and what to check
Shoppers comparing cash or insurance prices on common prescriptions, especially for larger 90-day supplies.
This site is about the pharmacy only; other Costco services (like $29 virtual doctor visits) are member-exclusive; call ahead to confirm your specific medication is stocked and the non-member policy at your local warehouse.
A free coupon service. You search your medication, get a coupon (digital or printed), and show it to your pharmacist, who applies a negotiated cash price at checkout. GoodRx says plainly on its own site: 'GoodRx is NOT insurance.'
free to use the basic coupons; an optional paid membership (GoodRx Companion, roughly $9.99/month billed yearly) adds free and lower-priced medications
Who can use it and what to check
Anyone without insurance, or whose insurance copay is higher than the GoodRx cash price, at any of GoodRx's 70,000+ partner pharmacies.
Cannot be combined with insurance on the same purchase; the price shown is an estimate that can vary by pharmacy and change without notice; using it means you are paying cash, so it does not count toward an insurance deductible.
A free prescription discount card, similar to GoodRx. You look up your medication, get a free coupon, and your pharmacist applies the discount at checkout. SingleCare states directly: 'This is a medical discount plan. This is NOT insurance.'
free to use; no monthly fees
Who can use it and what to check
Anyone comparing cash prices across pharmacies, especially without insurance or when a copay is higher than the discounted price.
Cannot be combined with insurance; savings vary by drug and by pharmacy, up to about 80% off the cash price; you are responsible for paying the full discounted price yourself.
A Walmart pharmacy program that sells select generic medications at commonly prescribed dosages for a flat low price, starting at $4 for a 30-day supply or $10 for a 90-day supply, for people paying cash.
starting at $4 for a 30-day supply, or $10 for a 90-day supply, on covered drugs; cash price, no membership
Who can use it and what to check
Anyone whose medication is on Walmart's covered drug list and who wants a simple flat price without using insurance.
Only covers drugs on Walmart's own list, in the unit sizes and manufacturers Walmart specifies, and only while that stock is in the pharmacy; pricing for some drugs varies by state, including California and Minnesota; check the current list (available in English and Spanish on Walmart's site) or your local Walmart pharmacist before counting on it; paying cash this way does not count toward an insurance deductible.
A federal Medicare program that lowers what you pay for Medicare Part D drug coverage: premiums, deductibles, and per-prescription costs. Some people are enrolled automatically; others have to apply through Social Security.
free to apply; if you qualify, your 2026 costs are $0 plan premium, $0 deductible, and up to $5.10 per generic or $12.65 per brand-name drug until you hit a $2,100 total-cost cap, after which covered drugs are $0
Who can use it and what to check
People on Medicare with limited income and savings. In 2026, the income limit is $23,940 for an individual and $32,460 for a married couple (resource limits also apply).
Only helps with Medicare Part D costs, not commercial insurance or the uninsured; not available in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, or American Samoa (other programs exist there instead); income and resource limits are reviewed yearly and can change.
A joint federal-state health insurance program for people with low income. Prescription drug coverage is optional under federal law, but every state currently covers outpatient prescription drugs for people enrolled in Medicaid.
coverage itself is free or very low-cost to enroll in; most states charge little or nothing per prescription for Medicaid enrollees, though small copays are allowed in some states
Who can use it and what to check
People and families with low income and limited assets; eligibility rules and income limits are set by each state.
Rules, income limits, and covered-drug lists (formularies) differ by state, so what you pay and what's covered depends on where you live; applying and enrollment happens through your state's Medicaid agency, not through this site directly.
Some states run their own programs that help residents pay for prescription drugs, on top of Medicare or Medicaid. Not every state has one, and the rules are different in each state that does.
varies by state program; Medicare.gov points you to a state-by-state lookup at no cost
Who can use it and what to check
State residents, often people on Medicare, whose income is too high for Extra Help but who still struggle with drug costs; exact eligibility depends on the state program.
This is a category, not one program; only some states offer a SPAP, and benefits, income limits, and covered drugs vary widely by state; check your own state's health department or Medicare.gov's state lookup before assuming one exists where you live.
A federal website launched in 2026 that shows Most-Favored-Nation prices the government negotiated on certain brand-name drugs, plus a growing list of generic drugs, and lets you compare those prices to what you currently pay.
free to browse and compare prices; you cannot buy medication directly from TrumpRx itself
Who can use it and what to check
Anyone comparing prices on the specific brand-name and generic drugs currently listed on the site.
You can't purchase drugs directly on TrumpRx; per Medicare.gov, TrumpRx prices are not considered creditable coverage, so using them instead of your Medicare plan does not count toward your Medicare deductible or out-of-pocket maximum; only covers the drugs currently listed, not every medication.
A federal network of about 1,400 HRSA-funded community health centers running more than 16,200 service sites across every U.S. state, territory, and DC. These centers provide primary care on a sliding fee scale based on your income, and federal law requires each one to provide access to prescription drugs (directly on-site or by arrangement) as part of its required services -- so a center's own pharmacy or pharmacy referral is typically part of what you get, not a separate program you apply for.
free to search and free to use the finder tool; what you pay at the center itself is scaled to your income, not a fixed price
Who can use it and what to check
Anyone, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay -- health centers are required by their federal funding to serve patients on a sliding fee scale, and cannot turn someone away for inability to pay.
The finder tool itself only locates centers and sites; it does not show a specific center's own fee schedule or confirm which pharmacy services a given site offers -- call ahead to confirm sliding-scale pricing and pharmacy access at your nearest site. A zip code narrows the search (see the tool's own zip-entry field), but the tool does not publish a documented deep-link URL parameter contract -- treat any zip-prefilled link as best-effort, not guaranteed to keep working.
