Along with the rising cost of prescription drugs, comes the rising cost of prescription fees.
As per the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, Pharmacists receive a dispensing fee for filling your prescription(s). This fee covers services such as:
Consulting with you about your treatment
Maintaining and checking your medication records
Providing drug information to your doctors
Dispensing your drug products
Stocking medication
General operating costs such as employees' salaries, rent, and so on
There are two types of dispensing fees in Ontario:
the Ontario Drug Benefit (ODB) dispensing fee, and;
the "usual and customary" dispensing fee for prescriptions not claimed under ODB. Example: you pay for a prescription yourself and do not claim it under ODB."
Pharmacists are businesses that want to make a profit, just like any other business, and one of the ways to do that is to charge a dispensing fee.
Dispensing fees vary from pharmacy to pharmacy, so check around. If you claim under ODB then the pharmacist are regulated to a set charge.
Currently Costco and Walmart have the best dispensing fees, just under $4.00 per prescription. You don't have to be a member of Costco to utilize their pharmacy.
Compare the $4.00 to Shopper's Drug Mart charge of approximately $12.00 per prescription, and you can see the savings.
If you don't want to leave your current pharmacy, have a conversation with them asking to reduce the dispensing fee..