by Gabriel Levitt, Vice President, PharmacyChecker.com and Sam Werbalowsky, Pharmacychecker.com | Sep 17, 2014 | Advocacy, Drug Importation, Personal Drug Importation
The opinions and research of two Americans, published this week in local newspapers, epitomize the position of millions of Americans: drug prices are too high and safe personal drug importation is a smart way to afford medication. Tom Kennedy compared prices between the U.S. and Canada in 2003, and he is doing it again 11 years later. His guest opinion in the Billings Gazette has shown that U.S. prices have increased 153% for the drugs he tracked since 2003, far outpacing the rise in income and cost of living. He has some good economic insight and analysis, and I recommend reading his whole opinion, which you can find here.
David Di Saia, from North Providence, Rhode Island, found that he could save $480 a year by using a Canadian pharmacy instead of the pharmacy associated with his Medicare plan. And that’s just the savings for one medication! Imagine the savings if he had to order more than one drug. You can read his story, which is “sad, but true” on the Valley Breeze website.
Tagged with: Billings Gazette, Drug Prices, Valley Breeze
by Gabriel Levitt, Vice President, PharmacyChecker.com and Sam Werbalowsky, Pharmacychecker.com | Sep 5, 2014 | Drug Prices, Generic drugs, Specialty Drugs
Specialty drugs have been in the news for their exorbitant prices lately. Gilead Sciences’ Hepatitis C cure Sovaldi has received media exposure for costing $84,000 and in 2012, when Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center refused to use the colon cancer medication Zaltrap because of its $11,000 a month price, the manufacturer responded by offering discounts of 50%. Will these high prices come way down once the medications go generic?
A new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research, examined costs and utilization of specialty drugs (specifically cancer meds) as generic versions are introduced. Generally, prices for generic drugs drop as more manufacturers produce them due to price competition. This should presumably happen for specialty drugs, but there’s a catch. Many specialty drugs have a small user base and some of them are formulated as solutions or injection, which may require more specialized and expensive manufacturing processes compared to traditional oral drugs (i.e pills, liquids). For those reason, the drugs price discrepancy between brands and generics is not as great among specialty medications compared to regular medications.
The study didn’t analyze the best way to actually pay for these medications. But a recent analysis by HealthPocket took a look at Obamacare plans and specialty meds. Check that out here. We are still researching paying for specialty drugs and will have our own analysis and tips for saving at some point in the future.
Keep in mind that over time specialty drugs, such as Sovaldi, will go generic in the U.S. and be prices considerably lower than the brand. But unlike many pills for high blood pressure, depression, or cholesterol, you won’t find $4 Zaltrap at your local Rite-Aid anytime soon.
I wish I had a more concrete answer and analysis on the prices and access to specialty meds. It’s something that we here at PharmacyChecker.com are keeping an eye on, and we will certainly have updates in the future.
Tagged with: Gilead Sciences, National Bureau of Economic Research, Obamacare, Sloan-Kettering, Sovaldi, specialty drugs, Zaltrap
by Gabriel Levitt, Vice President, PharmacyChecker.com and Sam Werbalowsky, Pharmacychecker.com | Aug 8, 2014 | Medicare Drug Plans, Medication non-adherence, Skipping medications
The journal Health Affairs recently published an article titled “Medication Affordability Gains Following Medicare Part D Are Eroding Among Elderly With Multiple Chronic Conditions.” The article is about changes in and problems with affordable access to medication for all Medicare enrollees who are 65 and over, not just those with chronic conditions. It focuses on two different time periods, 2007 to 2009 and 2009 to 2011. The data shows that while Medicare Part D initially improved access to affordable medication, some of those gains were lost, and for seniors taking the most medications, the most vulnerable, improvements may have disappeared entirely.
In 2005, before Part D plans were available, the study noted that an estimated 14.9% of seniors experienced cost-related problems accessing prescription drugs (meaning they did not take medicine as prescribed due to cost), also called cost-related prescription non-adherence (CRN). CRN decreased to 11.3% in 2007. Then, surprisingly, following the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression (during which the average wealth of the elderly dropped 20%), the number decreased further to 10.2%.
During the economic upturn, however, the CRN figures crept back up to 10.8 by 2011. The same trend – a decline then an increase – happened for the percent of seniors forgoing other needs to pay for medicine (such as food and heat): 8.8 percent in 2005, 5.6% in 2007, 4.0%, but back up to 5.3% in 2011.
The CRN numbers are much worse for seniors with four or more chronic conditions, such as diabetes, cancer, hypertension, and asthma, among others, representing about 27% of all beneficiaries. (more…)
Tagged with: cost-related non-adherence, CRN, Health Affairs
