Apologies if this makes absolutely no sense to the UK posters. We have a very convoluted health system here where most people have health insurance
Up to now I've been getting my prescription delivered from Northern Ireland which was working out fine - way cheaper than getting it in a face to face pharmacy in the Republic and slightly cheaper than myBMI for the top dose. I was paying around €240 per pen. I was counting the clicks and taking a 9mg dose, so the pen was lasting me approximately seven/eight weeks.
Now my usual pharmacy has gone way too expensive (£390 for 15mg!) and the cheapest I've found is McKeevers in Newry at £334 including delivery, which would work out at €385.
But one thing I didn't appreciate until today was MyBMI's charging structure under their new prices. Before, they made you do a consultation every month at a cost of €100 and then the price of the Mounjaro pen was approx €150, no matter the strength of the pen. Under their new pricing structure, the cost of the pen remains the same, in fact a bit less at €143. To make up for this, they've increased the cost of their consultations, depending on the strength of the pen.
I couldn't understand why they had done it this way, until someone pointed out that if you had a good day-to-day health insurance plan, you could claim back up to 75% of the GP consultation fees. I have a VHI plan already, but it only gives me a maximum limit of €40 per GP visit. I looked it up this morning, and I could swap plans to one that is the same price, and get 75% back! So if I went with myBMI, I could claim back €187 of the €249 price for consultation at the top dose, meaning I'd only be out of pocket by €62. Add in the price of the pen itself and I'd be paying €205 - less than I paid before the price hikes!
Of course, I'd have to order a pen every month, whereas before I was making them last longer. But I could do this for six months and build up a stock of unopened pens in the fridge, and then cancel the contract after six months.
My own GP costs €100 for a prescription every six months. I'd happily go back to him next year once my stock of pens had run out, get one month of 15mg at the high prices in the North, and then go back to myBMI with proof that I was still on the 15mg, and start again. My GP would have no problem with that.
I just thought that might help some people with health insurance that might not have appreciated what they might get back on their day-to-day plan.