Cost of Male Fertility Medications

Introduction: The Cost of Medications Used In the Treatment of Male Infertility Problems

The costs of male fertility medications varies dramatically between different pharmacies, so it is worth your while to call around for pricing (especially if you do not have insurance coverage for these medications).

Local vs. Regional vs. National Pharmacies

Local pharmacies are your nearby neighborhood pharmacies.  These include examples such as Kroger, Walgreens, CVS, Sams Club, and Costco.  We have included a few of these in our price guide below (costs reflect stores in Southwest Ohio, so there may be some regional variation).  Sams Club and Costco do not require a membership to use their pharmacy, but offer discounted rates to members.

Pharmacies are not allowed to ship to states in which they do not have a physical presence in terms of an affiliated store.  Some very large pharmacy chains (such as Walgreens Specialty and Freedom Pharmacy) are able to ship to all 50 states.  However, others are limited to certain states.  A few examples of regional vs. national pharmacies are listed below- be aware that there are many other regional pharmacies that may serve your state and have competitive prices for fertility medications.

Regional pharmacy

Barron Pharmacy- serves OH, MI, FL, PA, HI, TN

Larger regional pharmacy

Apothecary by Design- all states except: CA, LA, NJ, TX, NC, VA

National pharmacies (serve all 50 states)

Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy

Freedom Fertility

Village Fertility Pharmacy

Medications from Other Countries

Medications for the treatment of hormone abnormalities are often expensive and sometimes are not covered by insurance. Often medications can be found for greatly discounted prices at pharmacies from other countries, but it is not recommended to obtain medications from other countries, for three reasons:

1. It is illegal.

The FDA prohibits the purchase of prescription medications from other countries. In the past, the FDA has tended to turn a blind eye to U.S. citizens who travel to Canada to purchase small amounts of medications for personal use, but this activity is still illegal and could come with legal consequences.

2. Product quality.

In some cases, knockoff medications are produced in second- and third-world countries with little to no control of dosage amounts or production quality. In other circumstances, online vendors from other countries advertise medications supposedly made by the same companies that supply pharmacies in the United States. However, without official FDA oversight, you are taking their word about the source of the medications they sell.

3. Confiscation of medications.

When medications are imported, there is the chance that they will catch the eye of a U.S. Customs agent and be kept for further scrutiny. At worst, this could mean permanent loss of the shipment (which has already been paid for), and at best, a several-month delay in receiving your medication.

For these reasons, I always recommend getting your medications from a reputable U.S. pharmacy. Take care when searching on the Internet for affordable medications, as many online pharmacies carrying fertility medications will not reveal on their website what the drugs’ country of origin is. When looking into these companies, always ask where the pharmacy is based, and make sure that it is within the United States. 

Pricing of male infertility Medications

The differences in pricing which pharmacies charge for the same medications can be mind-boggling. A review of 11 different pharmacies reviewed in 2017 for the cost of a month’s supply of clomiphene (at a dose of 50mg every other day) found a range of between $18.03 and $260.00. What type of logic can possibly justify one pharmacy charging over 14 times the price for the exact same medication? It is therefore definitely worthwhile to invest some time in researching your local pharmacies for prices of fertility medications. This is true even if you have insurance coverage for your medications since most people now have high-deductible plans.

For some medications there is also the option to utilize on-line providers like GoodRx.com which can provide significant discounts on some medications. For the oral fertility medications (such as clomiphene, anastrozole, and cabergoline), GoodRx offer extremely good pricing options. Injectable HCG can be found, though the prices are generally not as competitive.

One important factor to know is that if you use GoodRx.com, you cannot then submit that prescription to your insurance company. You will either be able to use your insurance card or the GoodRx.com coupon, not both. The cost that you pay with GoodRx.com will also not apply to your deductible, so consider how you want to pay when deciding on payment for your prescriptions.

For comparison to traditional pharmacy pricing (as you do your research), we will list the current local pricing (for Ohio) in May 2020 for a month’s supply of several male fertility medications through GoodRx:

Clomiphene (50mg every other day)

$17.99 (Kroger)

$19.96 [Costco)

Anastrazole (1mg every day)

$10.85 (Costco)

$13.62 (Kroger)

Cabergoline (0.5mg, 8 pills)

$26.43 (Costco)

$26.68 (Kroger)

HCG (1 vial of 10,000 IU)

$103.96 (Kroger)

$103.96 (Walmart)

How to use GoodRx.com:

Visit the website, GoodRx.com and enter the medication you wish to search. Enter the number of tablets on the prescription. Enter your zip code under the section “lowest prices near”. This will direct you to local pharmacies offering the best price for your prescription. You must show the coupon to the pharmacy when filling your prescription.

Pricing for human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG)

There is a nationwide shortage of HCG. This was recently exacerbated with a 2020 ruling by the FDA restricting compounding pharmacies from dispensing HCG, thereby further decreasing supply (though a few compounding pharmacies did get waivers from the FDA). HCG comes in 3 different forms: generic HCG, Pregnyl, and Novarel. All 3 have the same dosing and are used the same way.

The following is the May 2020 pricing for 1 vial of 10,000 IU HCG.

Barron Pharmacy (www.barronpharmacy.com)

$99.00 Pregnyl

Kings Pharmacy (www.kingsrx.com)

$130.00 Pregnyl

Village Pharmacy (www.villagepharmacy.com)

$119.00 Pregnyl

Freedom Pharmacy (www.freedomfertility.com)

$239.90 HCG

GoodRx

$103.97 HCG (Kroger, local pricing)

GoodRx $108.51 Pregnyl (Costco, local pricing)

Empower Pharmacy HCG (www.empowerpharmacy.com)

$50.00-88.33

Empower pharmacy is one of the compounding pharmacies which was granted a waiver from the FDA for producing HCG. They provide 3 options for dispensing HCG:

6,000 IU vial $53.00 (equivalent of $83.33 for 10,000 vial)

12,000 IU vial $75.00 (equivalent of $62.50 for 10,000 vial)

50,000 IU vial $250.00 (equivalent of $50.00 for 10,000 vial)

The only issue with the larger IU vials is whether the man is using a high enough dose to use up the vial before the expiration date.

Of note, some insurance companies offer coverage for medications from compounding pharmacies, but many do not. If you have insurance coverage for HCG, you would need to check with your insurance company to see if they would cover the medication being sourced from a compounding pharmacy.

Injectable FSH

Injectable FSH is quite expensive and is generally not available on the discount websites such as GoodRx. There are two different ways that FSH can be found: individual 75 IU vials or injectable pens that contain 300 IU. As with HCG, most of the FSH currently available is through commercial pharmaceutical companies, but Empower compounding pharmacy also has an option as well.

The following are the May 2020 pricing from various pharmacies for a month’s supply of FSH at a standard treatment dosage of 75 IU three times a week:

Barron Pharmacy (www.barronpharmacy.com)

$1,138.56 Menopur $94.88/75 IU vial

$935.40 Follistim $311.80/300 IU pen

Kings Pharmacy (www.kingsrx.com)

$960.00 Menopur $80.00/75 IU vial

$960.00 Gonal-F $320.00/300 IU pen

Alliance Rx Walgreens Prime Pharmacy (www.alliancerxwp.com)

$995.88 Menopur $82.99/75 IU vial

$923.40 Follistim $307.80/300 IU pen

Village Pharmacy (www.villagepharmacy.com)

$1,026.00 Menopur $85.50/75 IU vial

$1,020.00 Gonal-F $340.00/300 IU pen

Freedom Pharmacy (www.freedomfertility.com)

$922.80 Menopur $76.90/75 IU vial

$982.80 Gonal-F $327.60/300 IU pen

Empower Pharmacy (www.empowerpharmacy.com)

$287.40 Generic FSH