Whenever you’re given a prescription by a physician, ask if a generic equivalent would be okay to use. Generic drugs are usually less expensive than the brand name and may be equally effective.

Recently the White House, lawmakers, and the pharmaceutical industry established an agreement to cut Medicare drug costs by $80 billion over the next ten years. Although viewed as a “turning point” by the Obama Administration, there has been some criticism as President Obama throughout his campaign and recent term has vowed to dissociate from lobbyist influences.

However, over the years the spending on Medicaid and Medicare has grown to an exuberant amount in conjunction with a budget that already has a huge deficit. So how will such a cut in drug prices influence Medicare?