Two-in-One: Combination Pills

The Upside of Combo Pills

Combination diabetes drugs can encourage people to take medications as prescribed -- and can save them money, says Shannon Miller, a professor of pharmacy practice at Albany College of Pharmacy in New York. Typically, insurance companies charge a copay for each prescription received. Combination pills require just one copay, even though you're getting two medications, she says.

For Jack (last name withheld to protect privacy), who has type 2 diabetes, switching to combination drugs to control blood glucose, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol cut his number of daily pills from 11 to seven. He saves $40 a month on copays, for an annual savings of $480.

Although costs vary based on specific medications and health-plan coverage, the savings can be significant. A 2003 article in the journal Clinical Diabetes compared costs for 30 doses of five combination diabetes medications at four pharmacies in Columbus, Georgia, and two online pharmacies. Most combinations cost the same or less than the retail price of the drugs when sold individually (brand name or generic), the report says.

"The use of the two combination pills metformin/glyburide and metformin/rosiglitazone would save more than $50 per month compared with taking the same doses of medications purchased individually," the article says. Some diabetes combination medications are available in generic forms, but there is little cost difference between the combination generics and the two medications as individual generics.