yiddishkopf

At times when we have traveled to different countries, I've taken perscriptions along because I had heard about lower perscription prices. I had glasses made in Hong Kong, and when my mother was alive and living in Tuscon, AZ I had many perscriptions filled in Nogales, Mexico. My mother had a lot of dental work done there. Her dentist in Nogales was a graduate of the University of IL Dental School and a most charming, compassionate and capable man.

I only take one expensive perscription -- Crestor, but I can also take Zocor or Lipitor. Does anyone know about medication prices in NZ? We have 3 days in Auckland before boarding our cruise, so I would have time for errands.

Any assistance will be very much appreciated.

pykiwi

A few years ago, each item you got on your prescription costed around $30 NZ. It's probably more than that now though.

wilees

It depends on whether the phamaceutical is subsidised and whether you are eligible for government funded medicines. I also think that you will require a prescription from a GP in NZ to get the subsidies. The prices are about $5-30NZD per item with some exceptions that are much lower

If you are a non-resident non-NZder I do not think that you are eligible for any services unless you are from a country with a reciprocal agreement. i.e. UK, Australia, Sweden. Certainly not the US.

Also if they think you have come into the country specifically to use the health services (i.e. people who visit just as their baby is due) are being clamped down on.

However, if you get hit by a bus they'll treat regardless where you are from. Regardless of ability to pay.

However, using tax payer funded services of another country is slightly unethical. Did you pay that tax?

yiddishkopf

When I had glasses made in Hong Kong, I paid whatever they charged -- not sure if taxes were included or not, but my trifocals cost about 1/3 of what I pay at home and for a few years I've gotten my glasses at the optometry service at Walmart.

In Mexico, the same is true -- I paid whatever the charge was and I don't know if taxes were charged. In Mexico, however, some items that are available only by perscription in the US are over-the-counter drugs in Mexico. Retinol is an example and I used to buy 4 or 5 tubes for all my nieces and nephews who were in the acne stages of their lives.

Some countries must not expect the taxes to be paid -- hence many people in the US are getting perscriptions from Canada and other countries.

I am not looking for a subsidy but if I can get my cholesterol medication for a lot less then I get it here, I'd certainly make an effort to get it.

Neil_Oz

I can't speak for NZ, but it sounds like the system and the rules are similar to those here in Australia. I'd be surprised if any NZ pharmacist would dispense medications against a foreign prescription. The question of whether as a non-resident you'd pay the non- subsidised or the subsidised price is a secondary question, but my guess is that even the unsubsidised price would be less than the US price.

Certainly there are many countries where you can buy prescription drugs over the counter, but NZ is not a third-world country.
Another complication is that your medication may not be available under the US brand name.

The US pharma industry, with US government support, is campaigning against countries that keep the cost of drugs down by negotiating bulk prices which are further reduced by government subsidies. The industry is particularly fearful that this practice may catch on in the US itself. They argue that US customers are paying an unfair share of R&D costs, but their American critics in the health sector claim this is hogwash and that these "R&D" costs are mostly disguised promotion and advertising costs.

mlgb

I once asked the same question at a pharmacy in NZ. You will need a NZ doctor's prescription for Zocor, at the time it was about $40 for the office visit but I think the US dollar was stronger. After adding the doctor's cost it didn't make much sense, the savings was not much more.