what is the best and safest online prescription service for
medications needed to be taken for lifetime.  costs and insurance
options should also be considered.

I researched this for my parents a few months ago and ended up
choosing CVS.
www.cvs.com/

 I'm sorry but I no longer have the data I gathered then, but it was
based on prices for several major prescriptions as well as insurance
and free shipping.

I also researched this recently.  I recently left corporate America to
do consulting and am paying my own health insurance.  I chose a policy
that did not include prescription drug coverage, so I was looking for
the lowest cost mail service I could get.  I have worked in the
pharmaceutical industry for 25 years developing new drugs and was able
to use my "insider knowledge" to evaluate the field.  I wound up
focusing on Canadian businesses since we (Americans) can get drugs
legally from them through the mail, with certain limitations, and the
same drug costs about 60% of what it does in the US at our lowest cost
businesses.  In the end, I decided on www.canadamedexpress.com for the
following reasons:  1) they do business legally, 2) their turnaround
time is very short, 3) they carry all the drugs I need (7 different
ones), 4) they send only original containers of drug as they are
manufactured and sealed by the drug company, 5) they are a small
business and pay real attention to each customer (you are not just a
number), and 6) they had very competitive prices.  Their staff are
friendly.  They are in Scarborough, Ontario.  The phone number is
1-888-324-3376.  In this case, I definitely found smaller to be better
than bigger!  Good luck.

JCG

Are your parents Vets of US army,navy etc?

if so, the cheapest way to get meds if through the VA service.

If not Vets, the cheapest is drugstore.com, if you buy in bulk.

There is a number of online pharmacies that enable you to save on the
cost of prescription drugs.
 
Canadian Pharmacies is one of the http://www.affordablerx.com is one
of the best that I know.
 
But there are other resources right here in the states: 
 
http://freemedicineprogram.com - Free prescription drugs are available
to those who qualify regardless of age through patient assistance
programs. Free Medicine Program assists you with the application
 
http://www.discountrxmart.com 
http://www.peopleschoicerx.com - Peoples Choice Prescription plan
http://www.free-prescriptions.org

There are many Canadian Pharmacies on the internet now. But to be
safe, I would go with http://www.canadianpharmacylink.com because my
Grandpa ordered his mediciation from there which is located in Canada.

If you think that site has high prices you might want to try
http://www.canadianpharmacygroup.com or
http://www.canadianpharmacynetwork.com because my grandma ordered from
there because they had cheaper prices than the first one.

I know of couple more health related websites that might interest you
guys.
http://www.cyberpillsnetwork.com

This one is in Canada and they have cheap prices.
http://www.canadaexpressrx.com
http://www.buygenericviagra.biz
http://www.viagraimproved.com

I hope this post will help you out on what ya need

Good luck with your search!

Be very careful ordering medications over the Internet.  The FDA has
located dozens of web "pharmacies" that claim to be based in Canada,
but are actually in countries such as Algeria, Nigera, Morroco,
Mexico, Thailand, India, Vietnam, and a handful of countries in
Eastern Europe.  These countries have very weak regulations, or may
not have regulations at all, and there is absolutely no guarantee that
the "drug" you purchase from their web site is nothing but walnut
paste or bacteria-laden water.

If you choose to buy medications from a Canadian Internet pharmacy, do
a little research on the site to make sure the company is actually in
Canada, and the drugs that they are selling actually originated from
the said manufacturer.