The cost of some of the most popular prescription drugs might soon take a tumble thanks to expiring patents.

The patents on more than 100 popular name brand prescriptions will expire over the next several years, including cholesterol drug Lipitor and blood thinner Plavix.

That will allow generic versions of the drugs to be sold at much cheaper prices, anywhere between 20 and 80 percent less than what the current name brands cost.

The cost savings could be huge for many elderly prescription users who would see their co-payments on Medicare decrease.

Amy Adkins a Medicare Counselor with Valley Aging Services says a generic drug could cost in the "4 to 7 dollar range co-payment in general versus what they may have paid for the brand name which may have run them between 30 and 45 dollars a month for the brand name equivalent, so it's much cheaper in the co-payment."

Adkins says the generics will also not add up as quickly towards the so-called "donut" hole in coverage for Medicare.

© Copyright 2012 WHSV / Gray Television Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.