PHOENIX — Nearly one in three Americans have cut back on essentials like food or utilities to afford health care, according to a March 2026 Gallup survey, but there are ways to save, even if you already have insurance.
Experts recommend comparing pharmacy prices, asking about 90-day prescriptions, reviewing manufacturer discount programs and using tax-advantaged health savings accounts. Consumers considering paid health care subscriptions should also compare membership fees with their expected savings.
For Phoenix resident Sue Grace, even with health insurance, prescription eye drops were a major expense.
"Until my eye medications became generic, they were very expensive. It was like 182 dollars for a bottle of eye drops," Grace said. "I'm fortunate because I live in with a family. My family is stable financially, but I don't know how people who make very little can handle it.”
Ersa Divina Gracia says paying for insurance through her employer doesn't mean her family's medical care is fully covered.
"Health, yes, I paid through my employers, so yeah, it's kind of like expensive, you know, the highest one. But you know, when we go to the doctors, they're still co-pay," Divina Gracia said.
Divya Iyer, GoodRx Senior Vice President, says the cost of health care is a growing concern.
"They may have some type of insurance coverage, but when they go to the pharmacy counter, the out-of-pocket costs and the bills add up and are still very high and hard to manage," Iyer said.
A GoodRx survey found more than one in four respondents (26%) reported at least one gap in their coverage, with prescription medications and dental care among the most common areas where insurance fell short. For patients, those gaps can mean unexpected bills and difficult decisions about paying for necessary care.
So where can consumers save?
Iyer said one of the first steps is comparing prescription prices at different pharmacies.
"What most people may not know is that prescription prices can actually vary from one pharmacy to another,” Iyer said. “So taking the time to actually compare prices, using resources like GoodRx that are free, to look at prices at nearby pharmacies, so that they can make an informed decision, that would be a great first step.”
Iyer also recommends looking at prescription supply lengths. Some 90-day refills are more affordable than a 30-day supply.
GoodRx also partners with pharmaceutical manufacturers to offer customers lower cash-pay prices on more than 100 brand-name medications.
"That is a lot lower than what the patient would pay if they didn't want to use insurance and just wanted to pay out of pocket at the pharmacy," Iyer said.
When it comes to generic medications, GoodRx launched a new paid subscription this year called GoodRx Companion. Members can get eligible generic medications at no additional cost beyond the membership fee.
"It's a monthly health care membership, and it's $14.99 a month, or it's $9.99 a month if you pay annually. And the membership provides access to more than 250 generic medications for free, at no cost," Iyer said.
Hundreds of other drugs are available for under $10 with the subscription, which also offers additional savings on dental, vision, labs and telehealth.
Iyer said for some patients taking multiple medications, the savings could outweigh the monthly membership fee.
"Let's take somebody, a patient who has diabetes, high cholesterol, and anxiety; and so they may be on very common medications for these conditions like metformin, atorvastatin, and sertraline,” Iyer said. “At retail, these medications cost about $130 a month. With GoodRx Companion, they cost $0. They're in our free tier of medications, and so that's $115 in savings every month, or almost $1,400 a year.”
The example reflects GoodRx's stated retail prices and eligible medications. The estimated $115 in monthly savings accounts for the $14.99 membership fee, but actual savings will depend on the prescriptions and prices available to each patient.
Meanwhile, at a new facility outside Phoenix, Walmart is using automation to fill prescriptions for more than 700 pharmacies across 12 western states.
The central fill facility can process up to 100,000 prescriptions a day, with robots counting pills, labeling and packaging medications.
Walmart said the technology helps streamline the process, freeing up local pharmacists to spend more time with patients. While that could mean faster, more efficient service, Walmart has not established whether those efficiencies will lower prescription prices for consumers.
Beyond pharmacy innovations, what about the bigger picture?
One economist says broader federal health care reforms, like expanding coverage, would require Congress to agree on what benefits to offer and how to pay for them.
Dennis Hoffman, an economics professor at Arizona State University's W. P. Carey School of Business, said major health care policy changes involve significant financial and legislative challenges.
"That's going to require a lot of debate, and it's going to be costly,” Hoffman said. “So you have to figure out what provisions you want in bills like that, and then how you pay for them over what period of time. You address these affordable affordability issues, but then find a way to pay for them. That's the real challenge.”
For now, some consumers are using tax-advantaged health savings accounts to help offset medical expenses.
Phoenix resident Daniel Morris is already doing this to keep track of his spending.
"It's definitely one of those things that I recommend people do if they are able to get to help offset the costs," Morris said.
For Grace, finding ways to save on health care is especially important now.
"Very. My husband retired last Friday,” Grace said. “So we're in a different mindset now.”
