By Laurie Blank Hours
Last updated September 9, 2024
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Did you know that some pharmacies offer free antibiotics? Antibiotics can be an important tool when combating infection.
However, with rising inflation comes rising medical costs. This article on rising healthcare costs tells us that medical care in 2019 in the U.S. amounted to an average of $11,582 per person.
Knowing which pharmacies provide free antibiotics may help you as you work to combat inflation and stay within your budget.
Table of contentsThere are several pharmacies that give out free antibiotics, as well as some that give out “nearly free” antibiotics.
In this article, we’ll share pharmacies you can check for free or nearly free antibiotics. Hint: ask for prices on other medicines too. You might be surprised at the discounts you can find!
Meijer is a superstore chain that was founded in 1934 and has over 250 stores located throughout the Midwestern United States.
The chain offers a variety of antibiotics free of charge to customers who have a doctor’s prescription. The store’s list of free antibiotics is not available online.
However, all of the antibiotics on the list (see store locations for details) are offered free regardless of your insurance type or your copay.
Bonus: Meijer also offers select prenatal vitamins free of charge. Meijer started this program as a way to help customers combat rising healthcare costs and to help customers have the tools they need to improve their health.
You can find Meijer locations in the states of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
Super 1 Foods has been in existence since 1984 and boasts nearly 50 locations throughout Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas.
The company’s free antibiotics program offers free antibiotics prescriptions (when ordered by a doctor) for popular medicines such as:
In addition, Super 1 Foods also offers a list of doctor-ordered prescriptions for just 11 cents per day for a 90-day supply. 30 and 60-day supplies are also heavily discounted.
The store also gives discounts on supplies needed to manage diabetes and other maladies. See your local Super 1 Foods store location for details.
Reasor’s is a small grocery chain with 17 locations in northeastern Oklahoma. The first Reasor’s store opened in 1963.
When you have a prescription from a doctor, you can get free liquid penicillin and amoxicillin for kids under the age of 12.
Refills are free as well, as long as they are ordered by your doctor. You do not have to carry health insurance in order to take advantage of this benefit.
The only requirements are adhesion to the age limit and a doctor’s prescription. Remember that this free prescription benefit applies to liquid amoxicillin and penicillin only.
See a Reasor’s store near you for more details on this program.
While the list of stores that offer free antibiotics is short, there are some stores you can visit that offer nearly free antibiotics.
Publix offered free antibiotics to customers for nearly 15 years. In fact, the grocer gave out over 100 million free prescriptions for antibiotics.
However, that program is ending as of June 1, 2022.
That said, Publix still works hard to keep antibiotic costs low by offering some common generic antibiotics at discount prices of $7.50.
Visit one of the over 1,200 Publix store locations for more details.
Publix stores are located in:
Note that Publix also offers discount prices on other medications, such as some diabetes and high blood pressure medications.
Your local Publix store will have all the details you need on discount medications and prices.
Winn-Dixie was founded in 1925 and now operates over 500 locations in states including Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, and Mississippi.
The well-known grocery chain has a long list of prescription medicines they sell at both $10 and $4 price points.
In most cases, a 30-day supply costs $4, and a 90-day supply costs $10.
There are only three antibiotics on the Winn-Dixie discounted price list as of this writing:
If you need a prescription for one of these three antibiotics, stop at your local Winn-Dixie store and take advantage of these discounted prices.
If you need a different antibiotic, go ahead and give your local Winn-Dixie pharmacy a call and ask about pricing. You may find lower prices on other antibiotics as well.
Giant Food has a history of offering free antibiotics during tough cold and flu seasons. However, that program doesn’t run often.
That being said, Giant Food does have a long list of discounted antibiotics and other prescription medications.
Some of the discounted antibiotics offered by Giant Food pharmacies include Amoxicillin, Cephalexin, and Ciprofloxacin.
As of this writing, prices for these and other medications were as low as $6.99 for a 30-day supply.
As with most of these programs, you do need a doctor-ordered prescription to get these discounted prices.
Giant Food was founded in 1923 and operates roughly 190 locations. However, only 132 of their stores have pharmacy sections.
Call the Giant Food store near you to find out if the location has a pharmacy available.
Did you know that Amazon has a pharmacy section? Amazon’s pharmacy section offers prescription medications and great service as well.
All you need to do is provide Amazon with your insurance information, your doctor’s information, and a current list of the medications you’re taking.
Once you’ve signed up with Amazon pharmacy, you can order antibiotics with a doctor’s prescription.
And the prices are low. When I did a price check on a 30-day supply of Amoxicillin, the price came up as just $1.70.
If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you’ll also get free shipping. If you’re not an Amazon Prime member, check out these ways to get Amazon Prime for free.
Stop & Shop began operations in 1892. There are over 400 store locations in the U.S., located in the New England area, including downstate New York and northern New Jersey.
Like its sister company Giant Food, Stop & Shop offers discounted antibiotics and other medications when you have a doctor’s prescription for the medication.
Popular antibiotics like the ones mentioned elsewhere in this article are sold at a discounted price of $6.99 for a 30-day supply.
When you buy a 90-day supply you may be eligible for even deeper discounts. See the Stop & Shop website via the link above for more information on discounted antibiotics and other health and wellness benefits offered by Stop & Shop.
Your local Stop & Shop location can also give you information on discounted antibiotics.
Walmart has over 10,000 store locations in 24 different countries. Founded in 1962, the store is a staple across the U.S.
As a part of its commitment to keep prices low, Walmart offers a $4 prescription program. However, no antibiotic medications are on the list of Walmart’s $4 prescriptions.
That being said, Walmart still works to offer low prices on prescription drugs including antibiotics.
Depending on the store location you shop at and current prescription medication prices, you may be able to get antibiotics for under $10 for a 30-day supply.
Call the Walmart pharmacy location near you to find out how much your antibiotic prescription will cost you.
Although you will get discounted prices at Walmart, you may be better off choosing a store like Meijer that offers free or deeper discounted antibiotics if there is one near you.
Sam’s Club typically requires a membership to shop there. However, you can buy prescription drugs at a Sam’s Club pharmacy even if you don’t have a membership.
You may find a benefit to becoming a Sam’s Club member, however, because Sam’s Club offers the lowest prices on antibiotics for members.
When I checked Sam’s member prices for a 21-day supply of amoxicillin and entered a club location near me, the price came up as just $2.80.
Note that the Sam’s Club website did mention that you have to be a member to get this low price. The site made no mention of what the cost would be for a non-member.
But I’m guessing non-member prices are similar to what Walmart would charge since both stores are owned by the same company.
And Walmart often charges less than $10 for prescription antibiotics.
Note: Check out Costco for discounted antibiotic prices as well. There are several ways to get a Costco membership for free.
The list of pharmacies that offer free antibiotics is short these days. However, there are several store pharmacies that offer antibiotics at highly discounted prices.
When you visit one of the stores listed above for your antibiotic needs, you could pay as little as $2 or less for your antibiotic prescription.
Just be sure to shop around, and know that you can only get antibiotic prescriptions at the stores mentioned here when you’ve got a doctor’s prescription.
Once you’ve got that, it’s easy to find a store that offers antibiotics for free or at discounted prices.
