Compare the Same Prescription Under Two Plans — Free
Paste each drug with what it costs under the plan you have and the plan you are considering, and read the swing per drug with the tier driving it.
The proof surface
Premiums are visible and drug costs are not, which is why plan choices usually go wrong. Pricing the same prescriptions under both plans is the arithmetic that changes the decision.
Why the flat version breaks
Premium-only comparison
A $52 monthly premium difference is $624 a year, which one tier-3 drug can erase in four months.
Ignoring the tier shift
A drug can be tier 1 on one plan and tier 3 on the next, and the swing is what the reader pays until they change prescription.
Reading a gap as a refusal
Coverage differs from price: a specialty drug marked not covered is a prescriber and formulary question, not a tier question.
How to work the plan-versus-plan sheet
One drug per line with the copay under each plan, in a fixed order.
The monthly swing that would actually make you change plans.
Each flagged drug shows both copays, the swing and the tier driving it.
Take the lines that swing most to the prescriber and ask about tier-1 alternatives.
What the sheet replaces
| Question | Before | On the sheet |
|---|---|---|
| Which plan is cheaper | compare premiums | the swing on every drug you actually take |
| Which drug drives it | guess from the list | the drug and tier named on the flagged line |
| What to ask the prescriber | 'is there a cheaper option?' | the specific lines that swing most |
Formularies change mid-year and coverage exclusions outrank tiers; the sheet prices the copays you paste.
Run it on the samples, right here
FIRST-LOAD
Data note: Everything runs in this browser tab on the plan-versus-plan sheet: your prescription list and plan copays stays on this device, nothing is uploaded, and the reading is rebuilt only when you press run.
Go deeper: the companion app files the same reading as a scored comparison matrix
The article demo above runs without limits. The companion app keeps a local history, exports the rows as CSV, prints the ready-to-mail packet, and holds your drafts on this device — one free run, then $ 9 one-time for the layer that keeps filing.
The sheet and the swing per drug are free. The paid layer keeps the drug list and prints the plan comparison for open enrolment.
Open the plan-versus-plan drug sheet companionBoundary
This plan-versus-plan sheet works only on the prescription copays under both plans you paste you paste. It does not give medical advice, does not recommend a plan, and does not verify a formulary. The figures describe what you supplied, not what is true in the world. Confirm anything you plan to act on with your prescriber and the plan's member services team before you rely on it.
What this is built on
- Every figure comes from the prescription copays under both plans you paste you paste; nothing is looked up, scraped or asserted as verified.
- Method: swing per drug = (second plan copay − first plan copay) ÷ first plan copay, flagged when it exceeds your own threshold
- Sample values are labelled samples — illustrative by design, not your data and not a quotation of any organisation's policy.
Before: the reader chose on premium. After: they can see four of six prescriptions swing against them under the cheaper plan, insulin glargine by $35 a month.