Do you have any type of Medicare supplemental play or Advantage plan? Those normally help some with drug costs. (And if you don't know it you almost have to have some type of extra drug coverage or it is going to cost you big in the future if you need it. For every year without extra drug coverage on Medicare they add a penalty to the monthly cost if you ever go on a plan.)

As far as your current problem - I would go with a cheaper cholesterol medicine. I think they all work about the same. Also unless your cholesterol is excessively high you may not really need the medicine. Cindy has had slightly high levels and used the drugs for a while but they didn't do much to reduce it so she just stopped. Many people just have slightly higher levels than others and live normal lives. Like Gene says - you never know when the doc is getting something under the table for recommending a drug.