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By Michael Pirages Orange, California senior Jack Winer couldn´t afford the high prices for his prescription drugs. Now he buys them from a discount mail order pharmacy in Canada, pays about half the U.S. price, and delivery direct to his mailbox. "I was very impressed, everything went very smoothly," said Winer, who said he received his drugs about three weeks after plac- his order from CrossBorder-Pharmacy.com, a Calgary-based discount pharmacy. "There is no question, that these drugs are the very same drugs I had been taking," he said, stressing that he´s confident of the drugs´ high quality. This contrasts with a short period of time in which Winer had bought cheaper drugs in Mexico. He says that he had difficulty getting them across the border and he was "never sure" whether he was receiving high quality product.Winer, a 68-year old, who works part-time in the real estate business, takes the prescription medicine Zocor to treat his high cholesterol. By buying his drugs from CrossBorderPharmacy.com, buying a larger dose pill than he needs and splitting it, he has reduced the cost of his drug from $4-6 per pill in the U.S. to about 50 cents per pill. He is one of thousands of Southern California consumers who shop at Canadian mail order pharmacies, one of the easiest and most popular sources for lower-priced drugs. With prescription drugs being one of today´s fastest growing health-care expenses, this can make quite a difference in reducing out-of-pocket costs. Unlike the U.S., Canada and most industrialized countries control their drug prices. A few Canadian online pharmacies say that California is one of the top two markets in the United States, especially given our large population of seniors, many of whom take prescription drugs. "Hundreds of California seniors call us everyday in search of more affordable drugs," said Dave Robertson, head pharmacist at Cross Border Pharmacy. "We´re grateful that we can provide needy consumers with high quality drugs at such incredible savings." To get an idea of price differences in the U.S. vs. Canada, 90 capsules of a 40mg dose of Zocor costs $344.97 at Walgreens.com, an online pharmacy tied to the U.S. drugstore chain (cheaper than its local drugstores). In comparison, at Cross Border Pharmacy, the same drug costs US$170.62, more than 50% less. Drugs for most health conditions are available at Canadian discount pharmacies at major savings over U.S. costs. Celebrex arthritis drug is about 50% less, Tamoxifen cancer drug is about 85%cheaper, and Prilosec heartburn medication is half price. Winer´s insurance doesn´t cover his drugs. He isn´t alone. According to Families USA, a Anational nonprofit health-care organization, nearly half of all Medicare beneficiaries, 18.4 million people, do not have year-round prescription drug insurance coverage.
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