Free medications may sound like something that is too good to be true, but the reality is that several pharmacies nationwide offer small lists of free medications for their patients.
Individuals with health conditions like diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, among others can benefit most from these programs. Some programs don’t have any strings attached and others require a yearly membership. Read on for more details.
Which medications are offered for free and where you can get them?
Here are some examples of medications you may be able to get for free:
- Oral diabetes medications
- Metformin
- Glipizide
- Glyburide
- Glimepiride
- Pioglitazone
- High cholesterol
- Atorvastatin
- High blood pressure
- Lisinopril
- Amlodipine
- Antibiotics
- Penicillin
- Cephalexin
- Amoxicillin
- SMZ-TMP
- Ciprofloxacin
- Ampicillin
- Prenatal Vitamins
- Antidepressants
- Sertraline
- Escitalopram
- Asthma
- Montelukast
- Men’s Health
- Finasteride
What pharmacies offer free medications?
Many grocery chain pharmacies offer free medications including Meijer, Publix, Kroger, Family Fare, Sam’s Club, and more. Some give them away without any strings attached (you still need a prescription), while others require a paid membership. I’ll give you the details of what is free at each location and their requirements below.
Why do pharmacies offer drugs for free? What’s in it for them?
The goal of any business is to make its owners money and pharmacies are no different. Pharmacies that offer free drug programs are able to give away these medications for free because you will more than likely fill the rest of your medications at the same pharmacy as a matter of convenience.
Only the most frugal, savvy shoppers are willing to make several different stops to get the lowest prices on all of their medications. And these companies use this to their advantage. They offer super-cheap generic medications for free, take the miniscule loss, and profit from the many other prescriptions you fill with them or other items you buy.
Since all of the pharmacies that offer free medications programs are also grocery stores you are also more likely to buy other high margin merchandise there such as OTC medications, shampoo, diapers, baby products, candy bars, housewares, etc
With all that said, make sure you are keeping money in your pocket and being a smart medication shopper. Take advantage of these free medication programs when it is advantageous to you.
Where and how can you get free medications?
Blink Health
Blink Health launched promotional program where you can get metformin free, delivered to your door. Yes, that right you don’t even have to leave your house and deal with the hassle of a line at a busy pharmacy.
This is the only service I know of that will offer a free medication that isn’t a retail establishment. This is important because this is the only offer available nationwide since the other programs are through regional grocery stores. You can read my review of Blink Health and get an exclusive discount code that may make it so some of your other medications are free too.
Grocery store chains
Publix
Publix pharmacies offer on of the broadest offerings of free medications to its customers offering up to 14 day supplies of certain antibiotics and up to 90 day supplies of medications for diabetes and high blood pressure. You can click the link to see the full list of free medications offered and any of the limitations, terms, and conditions.
| Disease State | Medication |
| High Blood Pressure | Amlodipine |
| Lisinopril | |
| Diabetes | Metformin (Immediate Release) |
| Antibiotics | Amoxicillin |
| Ampicillin | |
| Penicillin VK | |
| Sulfamethoxazole-Trimethoprim |
Meijer
Meijer is a privately owned big box grocery store founded here near my home in Michigan and is native my region of the country here in the the midwest. Since inception Meijer has given away over $650 million worth of free medications since its Free Drug Program inception in 2006. See their full list with terms and conditions. Boy that website is confusing! Here is the list of the 9 drugs Meijer currently offers for free.
| Disease State | Medication |
| High cholesterol | |
| Pregnancy | Prenatal vitamins |
| Diabetes | |
| Antibiotics | Amoxicillin |
| Ampicillin | |
| Penicillin VK | |
| Sulfamethoxazole-Trimethoprim | |
| Cephalexin | |
| Ciprofloxacin |
Price Chopper
Price Chopper pharmacies offer free diabetes medications, glucometer, and lancets through their Diabetes AdvantEdge program. The list of free diabetes medications is below.
- Glimepiride
- Glipizide
- Glipizide XL
- Glyburide
- Glyburide Micro
- Metformin (immediate release)
- Metformin (extended release 500mg & 750mg tablets)
Family Fare/ D&W Fresh Market
If you have a Spartan Nash store such as a Family Fare or D&W Fresh Market nearby you can get prenatal vitamins and certain diabetes medications free of charge. The list includes:
- Glipizide
- Glimepiride
- Glyburide
- Metformin (immediate release)
- Metformin (extended release 500mg)
- Prenatal vitamins
Paid memberships
Sam’s club
If you are a Sam’s Club Plus member you are automatically entitled to their discount prescription program which offers steep discounts on many generic medications and a select list of five generic prescription drugs at no charge. See the list of discounted and free medications here.
The 5 free items are:
- Donepezil
- Escitalopram
- Finasteride 5mg
- Pioglitazone
- Vitamin D2 50,000 unit caps
Kroger
The Kroger Rx Savings Club has a yearly fee of $36 per individual or $72 per family. With a membership you are entitled to some steeply discounted generic medications with a select few even being free. Here’s a list of the 6 free medications available through this program.
- Amlodipine
- Lisinopril
- Lisinopril-HCTZ
- Metformin (immediate release)
- Montelukast
- Sertraline
How do you get your medication for free using one of these pharmacies?
The process is very simple and smooth. You establish an account, or profile in pharmacy speak with the new pharmacy, meaning your give them your name, address, phone number, medication allergies, and health conditions to keep on file. Then you either provide a new prescription to them yourself, ask the doctor to send a new one to them, or ask them to transfer your prescription from your existing pharmacy to the new pharmacy offering the free medication.
If transferring be ready to provide the new pharmacy the name and phone number of the old pharmacy at minimum and ,if you want to get on their good side (trust me, you do), provide them with the old prescription bottle or prescription number and ample advanced notice or time to process the transfer and fill your prescription.
Once the prescription is at the new pharmacy they will fill the medication and notify you when it’s ready to pick up. Wasn’t that easy?!
Other ways to get meds free
Manufacturer prescription assistance programs
If you are on expensive brand name medications there are ways for some individuals to get their medications for free. Many brand name drug manufactgureres have prescription assistance programs where low income individuals can obtain their medications for free.
The process to follow is to find the corresponding assistance program here, review the eligibility requirements, complete and application with the required supporting documents and physician signatures.
Non-profit charity assistance programs
Some non-profits offer financial assistance to help individuals and families afford their medications. These resources can be hard to find however. Start by asking a to speak with a medical social worker or nurse care coordinator at your local clinic or ask the administrator of your faith-based organization. These types of programs range from donation funded disease specific organizations, grant funded programs, to non-profit 340B eligible health system entities. Simplefill may be a good place to start looking online or google “medication assistance programs near me”.
Manufacturer copay assistance cards
Many name brand drugs manufacturers have created programs to entice patients to try and stay on their medications even if their copays through their insurance is very high. The programs work like a secondary insurance that pays for most or all of the remaining copay after your insurance is applied.
These programs are drug specific and can be found by visiting the drug’s website online or googling the drugs name with the phrase “copay card”.
Next closest thing to Free
If you are taking generic medications that aren’t on the free lists above there is still good news. You too can potentially save considerable money on your medications by shopping around using prescription discount cards like Singlecare, check out Healthwarehouse or Blink Health, or utilize the many discounted medication programs that the varying pharmacies offer which is discussed in a separate article.