When do patients use drug coupons the most?

You may be familiar with GoodRx, a company that strikes deals with pharmacy chains and pharmacy benefit managers to offer patients drug coupons that they can use at the pharmacy to pay lower cash prices for certain medications. Each year, GoodRx sees some interesting patterns, the company’s executives told STAT in a recent interview. Here are a few of the most intriguing seasonal spikes:

GoodRx’s traffic “goes through the roof” each January, the company’s co-CEO Doug Hirsch said. Why then? That’s when new health plans go into effect and deductibles reset. The result: Many patients face copays that are equivalent to a drug’s cash price — and decide to look for a coupon so they can use cash to pay less.
The company also sees interest spike in the fourth quarter of the year. That’s a period when many people have health care on their minds, going to the doctor more and weighing new health plans during the open enrollment period.
GoodRx’s coupons for the EpiPen get used a ton at the end of the summer. The reason seems clear: Back-to-school season.
The day of the year GoodRx coupons are used most for erectile dysfunction drugs like Cialis and Viagra? New Year’s Eve. Next most is Fourth of July. (Valentine’s Day, for the record, is the day of the year with the fifth-highest volume for ED drug coupons.)