Trip to Canada to save money

A Sharon couple said they're spending $700 a month for prescriptions.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- Dennis Gregory hopes the bus trip to Canada he and his wife joined Tuesday will result in a 50-percent reduction in the cost of their prescription drugs.
He and his wife, Donna, were among nearly 20 people who joined the trip sponsored by the United Steelworkers of America. It's a two-day trek that took them to Ontario and would bring them home today.
The purpose of the trip, co-sponsored by the Alliance for Retired Americans in Washington, D.C., is to help people on fixed incomes who are being hit with high out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs.
Drug costs are significantly lower in Canada.
The Gregorys, senior citizens who live in Sharon, said they are paying about $700 a month for Donna's drugs for a blood cancer that is in remission and for Crohn's Disease and Dennis' Lipitor for a cholesterol problem.
A 30-day supply of Lipitor costs $108 in the United States but only $67 in Canada, according to the Alliance for Retired Americans.
Dennis is retired from Sharon Steel Corp. and said he lost his prescription drug insurance after the company went bankrupt in 1987.
This is the first time the Gregorys have joined the Canadian trip. The local Steelworkers also sponsored trips in 2000 and 2002.
Victoria Yeager of Volant went on that 2002 tour.
"It was a lot of fun," she said as she prepared to board a bus in Sharon City Centre parking lot for Tuesday's trip.
Another example
She said she's paying more than $500 a month out-of-pocket for prescriptions for her high blood pressure, heartburn and other health concerns.
Yeager, who does not work and said she is in her 70s, was very pleased with the results of the trip two years ago in which she was able to substantially trim her drug costs.
However, her prescription expired after just six months, and this is her first opportunity to go back to Canada.
Those making the trip had to have their drug prescriptions from their United States' doctors in hand before getting on the bus.
Once in Canada, they were to be taken to meet with a Canadian doctor and then to a Canadian pharmacy to have their prescriptions filled.
The trip itself is free.
Al and Garnet Ruffing of Transfer made the trip with the Steelworkers two years ago to get prescription drugs for her high blood pressure and were pleased with the results.
She was on a different medication then and has switched to a new drug that she hopes will be available in Canada.
The new medication is more effective in treating her problem but more expensive too, Garnet said, adding, "I like the new drug, but I don't like the bill."
The two -- he's 81 and she's 80 -- spend about $200 a month for her medication, she said.
Ruffing worked for the Westinghouse Electric Corp. plant in Sharon for 41 years, retiring in 1983 shortly before the plant was closed.