A few weeks ago, Terry Woldt walked into a pharmacy with a presciption his insurance no longer covers. However, instead of walking out empty handed, he got his medicine and kept money in his pocket.

"So, now I'm paying $5 a month instead of $163 a month, saving me about $1,900 a year just on that one prescription," Woldt said.

The savings came from asking about cheaper substitutes.

"If you come in with a prescription [and] there's not a generic for this one, your pharmacist can always call the doctor's office and get it changed too something equivalent or something that works almost exactly the same," said Rusty Appleberry, a pharmacist.

For example, in certain cases, generic Cipro can be substituted for the expensive name-brand antibiotic Levaquin.

Prescription Allegra for allergies costs $90 without insurance, but OTC Zyrtec and the store brands have the same active ingredients and are $70 cheaper.

Even prescription-strength pain relievers can have alternatives. However, tablet strengths can vary.

"So, you would have to take more tablets of this, but you get the same result for a lot less money," Woldt said.

Woldt said learn to ask and save.

E-mail jstjames@wfaa.com