Eliquis is the brand name for apixaban, an oral anticoagulant taken twice a day. Because it is dosed twice daily, a 30-day supply is 60 tablets, and the 28-tablet packages you see quoted on discount-card sites are roughly a two-week supply. Getting the quantity right is the single most common way people misread an Eliquis price.
Three completely different prices are in play in 2026, and which one you get depends entirely on how you buy. There is a manufacturer direct-to-patient price of $345 a month, a retail counter price that can run double that, and a Medicare negotiated price of $231 that is not available to cash payers. This guide prices all three as verified on September 1, 2026.
What Does Eliquis Cost Without Insurance?
Manufacturer figures come from Bristol Myers Squibb’s own pricing page and its April 2026 announcement with Cost Plus Drugs. Counter prices come from SingleCare’s live Eliquis page, updated September 2, 2026. The Medicare figure comes from the CMS Maximum Fair Price data file.
| Option | Low | Average | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eliquis 5 mg, 28-tablet package, cash at the counter | $189.00 (CVS) | $217.84 (Albertsons) | $337.41 (Walgreens) |
| Eliquis 5 mg, 28-tablet package, with a SingleCare discount card | $156.24 (Kroger) | $163.80 (CVS) | $168.84 (Albertsons) |
| Eliquis 5 mg, 30-day supply (60 tablets), Cost Plus Drugs direct | $345 | $345 | $345 |
| Eliquis 30-day supply, manufacturer list price (January 2026) | $346 | $346 | $346 |
| Eliquis 30-day supply, Medicare negotiated price (Part D only) | $231 | $231 | $231 |
| Eliquis copay card, commercial insurance only | $10 | $10 | $10 |
SingleCare puts the national average retail price at $375.57 for 28 tablets of the 5 mg strength, which is higher than any of the five chains it individually lists. Double the counter figures for a 60-tablet month and the range is roughly $378 at the cheapest chain to about $675 at the priciest, against a flat $345 through the manufacturer’s own channel.
The direct-to-patient price is the headline number
On April 27, 2026, Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer began selling Eliquis through Cost Plus Drugs. Their announcement is specific: “patients with a prescription will pay a total of $345 for a 30-day supply.” The Cost Plus product page for the 60-tablet bottle confirms $345 and describes it as a direct-to-patient cash price brought to you by Bristol Myers Squibb and Cost Plus Drugs. The 74-tablet starter bottle is listed at $426.
That price is open to anyone with a prescription who is paying cash. You do not need to be uninsured.
What happened to the list price
Bristol Myers Squibb’s pricing page now states that the list price for a 30-day supply of Eliquis is $346 as of January 2026, and defines list price as wholesale acquisition cost. That is a large drop. When BMS and Pfizer first launched their direct-to-patient option in September 2025, KFF documented the discounted price as $346 against a list price of $606, a 43% cut. The list price has since come down to meet it.
KFF’s analysis also makes the comparison that matters most for anyone paying cash: the $346 direct price was still about 50% higher than the $231 Medicare negotiated price, and far above the roughly $47 median monthly copay Part D enrollees paid in 2023.
What Drives the Price
Which channel you buy through. This is the dominant factor. The manufacturer’s own channel is $345 flat for a month. A walk-in retail counter with no discount card can be nearly twice that for the same 60 tablets.
The specific pharmacy. SingleCare’s September 2, 2026 data shows a 28-tablet package at $189.00 at CVS and $337.41 at Walgreens. That is a 78% spread on identical product, and it is the reason price-shopping three pharmacies is worth ten minutes.
Quantity and package size. Eliquis is sold in 60-tablet bottles and 74-tablet starter bottles, and discount sites often quote 28 or 30 tablets. Always convert every quote to the same number of tablets before comparing.
Whether a generic exists. As of September 2026, it does not, at least not on shelves. SingleCare’s page states that generic apixaban has FDA approval but is not yet available in the United States. CMS also still carries Eliquis as a selected drug with a published 2027 price, which is only true of brands without marketed generic competition. That single fact is why Eliquis still costs hundreds of dollars a month while its main competitor’s generic sells for pocket change.
Your insurance status, in both directions. The $10 copay card requires commercial insurance. The Medicare negotiated price requires Part D. Cash payers get neither and fall back on the direct channel.
Cash Price vs. Insurance
If you have commercial insurance that covers Eliquis, use the copay card. Bristol Myers Squibb’s savings page says eligible patients may pay as little as $10 for a 30-day supply or $10 for a first 90-day supply, then $30 for later 90-day refills, with a maximum annual program benefit of $2,000. There is also a one-time free 30-day trial of up to 74 tablets for new patients. Nothing in the cash market comes close.
If you are on Medicare, the number that applies to you is $231 for a 30-day supply, effective January 1, 2026 under the Inflation Reduction Act. CMS negotiated that down from a 2023 list price of $521, a 56% discount, and Eliquis was by far the biggest drug in the first negotiation cycle, with $18.3 billion in Part D gross covered drug costs and 3.9 million Part D users in 2023. CMS’s data file shows the price rising to $237.25 on January 1, 2027 under the annual inflation adjustment. Bristol Myers Squibb’s page also notes the 2026 Part D out-of-pocket cap of $2,100 per year across all your prescriptions.
If you have no coverage, none of that helps you directly, and this is the honest part: the negotiated price is a Medicare benefit, not a national price. Your realistic floor is the $345 direct-to-patient price. Run any quote you get above that through our fair price checker before you agree to it.
One scenario where cash beats insurance: a high-deductible plan early in the year. If your plan would make you pay a negotiated price above $345 toward the deductible, the direct channel is cheaper for that month. The catch is that self-pay dollars usually do not count toward your deductible or out-of-pocket maximum, so do the math across the full plan year, not one fill.
How to Pay Less
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Start with the manufacturer’s direct channel. Cost Plus Drugs sells the 60-tablet bottle for $345 with no membership and no insurance required. Against a $675 worst-case counter price for the same month, that one decision is worth about $330.
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Price the exact package at three pharmacies before you fill. The counter spread on a 28-tablet package was $148 in SingleCare’s September 2026 data. Our comparison of GoodRx vs. SingleCare walks through checking both cards on the same drug and quantity in about two minutes.
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Ask about a 90-day fill. Per-tablet pricing usually improves at larger quantities, and fewer trips means fewer dispensing fees. Confirm the per-tablet math rather than assuming.
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Apply for patient assistance if the number is genuinely out of reach. Bristol Myers Squibb directs uninsured patients in financial hardship to the Bristol Myers Squibb Patient Assistance Foundation at bmspaf.org or 800-736-0003, which supplies medication free of charge to approved applicants.
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Do not forget the visit and the monitoring. The prescription is only part of the bill. A free or sliding-scale clinic can handle the prescribing and follow-up at little or no cost, and a routine cash-pay doctor visit typically runs $100 to $300. If you end up with lab or cardiac testing, our guides to blood work and EKGs price those separately.
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Dispute anything that looks wrong. If a pharmacy or hospital bills you well above these published prices, the published price is your leverage. Our negotiation script gives you the exact wording.
Bottom Line
Budget $345 a month for Eliquis if you buy through the Bristol Myers Squibb and Cost Plus Drugs direct channel, and $378 to $675 a month if you walk into a retail pharmacy and pay counter price for 60 tablets. The $231 Medicare negotiated price is real, but it belongs to Part D enrollees, not to cash payers, and no amount of asking will get an uninsured patient that number in 2026.
The other lever worth knowing about is the competition. Xarelto is the other major oral anticoagulant, and its manufacturer sells a 30-day supply direct for $197, about 43% less than Eliquis. That is a cost fact, not a recommendation, and only your prescriber can decide what belongs on your prescription. For the other heart and diabetes drugs that went through the same Medicare negotiation in 2026, see our guides to Entresto, Jardiance, Farxiga, and Januvia.