The headlines are full of recessionary stories about people choosing whether to spend their meager monies on prescriptions or food.

Some fight back by only taking half a pill. Lowering your dosage like that might not be safe.

But you can take some control of your budget by having your doctor double your prescription's strength, then split the pills. More and more consumers and insurers are advocating pill splitting as a money-saving mechanism.

Is It Safe?

"It's better to split than quit the med entirely," said Bronx, N.Y., pharmacist Joel Zive, who is the media advisor for the American Pharmacist Association. "Overall, with the proper guidance from a healthcare professional, pill splitting is a safe and effective thing to do." But don't go it alone, Zive said. Some pills are made to split, others are safe to be split, but there are plenty that can't be split under any circumstances. "Not all pills are the same. There are certainly some pills that are constructed in such a fashion that pill-splitting would be dangerous," said Creighton University Medical Center Department of Family Medicine Chair Dr. Donald Frey.

Frey said time-released pills should not be split because changing the dosage can change the way the medication gets into the blood stream. He said odd-shaped pills also should not be split because it is difficult to get exactly half. Tiny pills are hard to split, and capsules or gel caps should never be split.

"There are situations where a person’s body is very sensitive to the dosage being off -- heart medications or pain meds," said Alexandria, Va., Dr. Lisa Fowler, the director of management and professional affairs for the National Community Pharmacists Association. "If you don’t get the level your body’s used to, you could experience withdrawal symptoms."

How To Split Safely

Consult your doctor and perhaps a pharmacist before you split pills. Fowler also said that people who can't manipulate pill bottles, or those with dexterity problems from paralysis or arthritis, shouldn't try to split their own pills.

The experts also say you shouldn't just whip out a kitchen knife, either. A $20 pill splitter is the best investment you can make because the device is made just for the purpose.

And pharmacists suggest splitting one pill at a time, rather than splitting the whole bottle at once. That way, if there are more milligrams in one half than the other, you'll take the correct dosage over two days instead of stretching mismatched dosages out over a month.

The pharmacists some pills that can be cut include:

Blood pressure pills Aceon, Atacand, Avapro, Benicar, Cozaar and Diovan

Anti-depressants Lexapro, Zoloft and Paxil

Cholesterol reducers Crestor, Lipitor, Pravachol and Zocor

"With some of these drugs, not only can they be split but they also come in generics, so you can save double," said Zive. "I look at healthcare as the patient being the captain of the team and the doctors and pharmacist and nurses are on their team. So go to a doctor and ask to split pills and ask which can be split. Or go to your pharmacist first and ask."

Insurer Encourages Splitting

UnitedHealthcare Insurance offers the Half Tablet program to its members. The voluntary program allows customers to ask their doctor for double-dose prescriptions with the idea the patient will split the tabs. UnitedHealthcare even provides a free pill splitter.

"UnitedHealthcare is constantly looking for innovative ways to improve health care," UnitedHealth Pharmaceutical Solutions CEO Tim Heady said in an e-mail. "The pill splitting program is a voluntary way in which consumers can take charge of lowering their pharmacy costs."

Heady said the program is a win for the insurer, the patient and their employer. He estimates an average member saves $300 a year splitting pills.

"Members pay a reduced co-payment, and the plan sponsor’s cost may be reduced by half," Heady said.

A University of Michigan study showed that patients taking half a cholesterol pill got the same benefits and saved money. As a result, the university launched a pill-splitting program.

"In its first full year, the program saved the university $195,000 and saved more than 500 employees and retirees a total of more than $25,000 in drug co-pay costs," according to a news release.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield also offers a half-tablet program.