Alert your employees: Consumers Union - the people who put out the respected “Consumer Reports” magazine - has a Web site that offers free guidance and advice for picking the right prescription medicine. It just might help everyone save on health costs.

Site name: Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs. 

URL: www.consumerreports.org/health/best-buy-drugs/index.htm 

Who runs it: Consumers Union 

What it provides: It’s hard to know where to start, since this site contains so much information. But let’s begin with a neat categorization section where you can search by Condition or by Drug.

So, for instance, if you wgo to Condition and click on Heartburn, you’ll get an essay on all the possible treatments and which one might be best for you.

Or if you go to Drug and click on Ambien, you’ll get information on what types of insomnia are best treated with the drug, what the alternatives are, and what you should expect to pay for the drug.

All in all there are dozens of Condition and Drug categories, arranged alphabetically.

The site also contains a section called Money Saving Guides, consisting of PDFs on varied cost-related topics such as “Generic Drugs” and “Assistance Programs.”

There’s lots more, some of which is taken right from the pages of the company’s subscription-driven magazine. All good stuff on this site - and you can’t beat the price.

Tags: ambien, consumer reports, consumers union, insomnia, prescription