CVS and CHIPS

Today, I was finally able to use my thirteen dollars worth of Extra Bucks at CVS. A couple of weeks ago, CVS had the Oral B Vitality rechargeable toothbrush on sale for $23 with an Extra Bucks coupon for $13. We also received at the beginning of the month a $10 off of one Oral B Vitality toothbrush. Take in account the Extra Bucks and coupon, the toothbrush would be FREE! I tried to do this offer, but every CVS that I went to were out. So I got a rain check from the closest CVS. For 2 weeks, I have gone to CVS hoping to redeem my rain check, but they were still out. Today was the last straw after I was told that they will not get them in for at least 2 weeks! Considering my current $13 worth of Extra Bucks were expiring on Sunday and my coupons will expire before the toothbrushes ever come in, I decided to use my Extra Bucks on items that were not on sale that I needed.

I needed to get a refill for my Lysol no hands soap dispensor and any kind of restoring mouthwash for Rob. The Lysol refills are at CVS for $3.99 each. I had Extra Bucks coupons for $4.99 and $3.00. So I decided to get two refills. I decided to that those two coupons were enough to make the refills free. Next, I checked out the mouthwash. I did bring my coupon binder with me and knew that I had lots of coupons for Listerine, ACT, and Crest mouthwash. I checked out all the available options, and decided to go with the Listerine Total Care mouthwash since I was able to get a bigger bottle and I had a coupon to use. I had one Extra Bucks coupon for $5.50 left. The Listerine coupon was for a dollar off. I was not able to get the Listerine on sale, but that did not worry me too much since I was using Extra Bucks coupons. The regular price for the mouthwash was $7.29. I applied my coupons and only paid 75 cents for a 1 litter bottle of mouthwash! I did have to pay sales tax on all the items when I checked out, which brought my grand total to $1.19 for all three items! The receipt said I saved $14.49! Even that impressed the pharmacists as I was checking out.

The other reason I went to CVS was to get Caisa's medicine refilled. Starting September 1st, my kids are on CHIPS. CHIPS is insurance provided by the state to families that make below federal poverty levels but makes too much for Medicaid. I only had to pay a one time $35 enrollment fee and no monthly premiums. The insurance covers prescriptions, dental, eye exams, and doctor visits for free or at a very low copay. My insurance copay for prescriptions are $20 for name brand and $5 for generics. When we had insurance through Rob's old work, I was paying between $25-$85 per prescription for Caisa a month. I also did not have just one prescription for her. I always had either 3 or 4 prescriptions that she needed to use all together. When she was really bad, I had to refill a couple of those prescriptions twice a month. Caisa has Psoriasis and she has to have topical steroids, anti-itch creams, and special topical creams just for her face. She also has a special steroid foam for her scalp. Most of these prescriptions are not available in generic form. Like today, I had to refill her Luxiq prescription for her scalp. This one used to run me $65 with our old insurance, but today I only paid $20! That was even cheaper the the $25 I paid one time when the dermatologist office gave me a coupon to use on the prescription.

Since being on CHIPS, I have saved quite a bit on Caisa's medication. Every little bit helps and now I do not have to worry about how much this is going to cost me. Believe me, prescriptions for skin conditions are very expensive! Even when you have decent insurance! If I did not have insurance, just one of her medicines would cost over $300. I have one that costs $800 without insurance! Makes me appreciate the CHIPS coverage even more.