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Does Medicaid help its enrollees with Hepatitis C to obtain Sovaldi? (Part 3 of 3 on Sovaldi)

(Read Part 1 and Part 2)

Last year we discussed the cost of hepatitis C (“Hep C”) wonder drug Sovaldi for Americans paying in cash or using their health insurance. Notably absent, in both analyses, were how our most economically challenged citizens could afford the $84,000 treatment. According to Governing, “Many of the estimated 3.2 million people living with Hep C in the United States are poor, imprisoned or elderly, which means the cost of Sovaldi falls disproportionately on Medicaid and Medicare.”

To treat every one of the 750,000 Americans with Hep C who receive state-funded treatment through Medicaid or the prison system with Sovaldi would cost $55 billion, according to Express Scripts, and budget realities mean that that simply won’t happen. Public health officials will use prior authorization guidelines in determining who will be covered, similar to the way benefits administrators with private health plans determine eligibility.

Unlike private insurers, drug manufacturers must give Medicaid a 23% discount. The lower price is helpful but does not necessarily make Sovaldi affordable. Current models of drug pricing under Medicaid are not tailored to handle Sovaldi and other specialty medications. According to a letter sent from National Association of Medicaid Directors, “Simply put, the federal Medicaid statute is not designed to allow states to respond to this new pricing approach for pharmaceuticals. Sovaldi is just the first of many such exceptionally high-cost ‘curative’ specialty drugs.”

That letter recommends several federal policies to address Sovaldi and other high priced medications, including the creation of a special federal fund for specialty meds, similar to Ryan White federal funds for AIDS; additional rebates for specialty medications that reach a certain threshold in the percent of the population affected; and, my favorite because of the ludicrousness of international price disparities where U.S. prices are twice the average of other rich countries, “Modify the ‘best price’ policies for breakthrough drugs to include the selling price in other countries.”

There are more suggestions by the NAMD, and they are good future possibilities, but we’ve got to get down to the bottom line here: if you have Medicaid, then under what circumstances will you get Sovaldi? The states are all over the place in terms of coverage policies, but usually a person has to be very sick to get Sovaldi!

The Sovaldi Squeeze, written for Medicaid Health Plans of America (MHPA) by Viohl and Associates, takes a good stab at identifying Medicaid coverage policies. Thirty-five states require prior authorization. Most, if not all, of those states require enrollees to take a liver biopsy; the results of which determine whether or not Sovaldi will be covered. Some states will only cover someone who has not used illicit drugs and alcohol for three years. Other states, including Illinois, Florida, and Louisiana will limit coverage terms to make sure the patient is complying properly with the regiment. For example, Louisiana will only cover Sovaldi for 28 days at a time.

The most extraordinary criterion I saw is referred to as the “once in a lifetime” rule in the MHPA report. As you imagined, if a patient doesn’t adhere to their covered Sovaldi treatment then it won’t be covered again.

Like we discovered with private health insurance and certainly for people who must pay the full price in cash, there are serious obstacles to obtaining Sovaldi even if you’re covered on Medicaid. The costs are just too prohibitive. Yes, Gilead is right that unlike maintenance medications Sovaldi (and other new Hep C meds we’ll discuss below) can cure the patient, which means lower healthcare costs overall. Nonetheless, the market is not established to handle such insane upfront costs.

You might expect that more treatments with the curative-type power of Sovaldi would add competition to bring down prices. Indeed, there are three new Hep C specialty meds on the market. Olysio, marketed by Jansen is cheaper than Sovaldi, but still sells for $840 per pill. Harvoni is actually more expensive than Sovaldi, carrying a price tag of$94,500 for three months, about ten grand more than Sovaldi. Unfortunately, like Sovaldi it is made by Gilead so the competition factor is diluted! Harvoni does have the advantage of being a stand-alone treatment, however, whereas Sovaldi is taken in conjunction with ribavirin.

Viekira Pak, marketed by Abbvie, was approved just last month. Express Scripts wisely decided to make a deal with Abbvie that it would exclude Sovaldi in exchange for lower prices on Viekira Pak! Sure enough, Gilead fought back against Abbvie by making a deal with CVS Health that Harvoni and Sovaldi would be the preferred Hep C medications for CVS’ PBM business.

And which drug is the best? We’re not going to touch on that but the online magazine, Hep Mag, has an excellent summary on all the new Hep C medications discussed above, which could prove helpful.

The market dynamics for Sovaldi and other breakthrough medications like it are highly complex but largely stacked in favor of pharmaceutical company profits against taxpayers and consumers. Neither Medicaid nor private health insurers can afford to treat the millions of people who are infected with Hep C.

To conclude, I’ll leave you with the words of Caroline, who commented on our Part 1 post about paying for Sovaldi in cash, as she sums it all up perfectly:

“Well I’m insured but this medication is not on the formulary for either health care companies offered at my job. They are two well-known companies and according to my GI doctor, none of the insurance companies are approving this drug unless you are at least at stage 3 liver disease. So I’ll have to get a little sicker before I can get it. Thanks Gilead!”

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Low Cost Counterfeit Drugs Save Lives in China…What?!

I wish I was joking about the racy headline above. The United States is not the only great power in which citizens go without medication because of cost. The cancer drug Gleevec (imatinib), made by Novartis, costs 23,500 yuan, or about U.S. $3,783, per month, in China. Gleevec is not covered by health insurance in China so people there must pay for it out of pocket. Ten years ago, Lu Yong was diagnosed with chronic myelocytic leukemia and was prescribed Gleevec. After facing bankruptcy due to his drug costs, Lu discovered a generic version of Gleevec, called Veenat, and began purchasing it by mail-order from India where it is an approved drug, at a cost of only 3,000 yuan, or about $482, per month — 87% less than the brand name drug.

Lu’s condition improved quickly using  the generic version. He began to help people with leukemia who he met online obtain Veenat. Now, according to the English edition of Caixin, an independent Beijing-based media outlet, he is facing criminal charges for credit card fraud and selling counterfeit medication. The same story was covered by official Chinese media under the headline “Leukemia patient prosecuted for buying pills overseas.” Lu has helped 1,000 people with leukemia obtain treatment. Three hundred of them are petitioning the authorities to have his name cleared.

The medications involved are real and clearly life-saving! So why is Lu being prosecuted for counterfeit drugs? Under Chinese law, any drug not specifically licensed for sale in China, even a genuine medication lawfully manufactured by an authorized drug company, is considered counterfeit.

The charge of credit card fraud was based on Lu’s using a foreign credit card to make the purchases. Lu said he did so because using domestic Chinese bank-issued credit cards for international purchases is nearly impossible.

Lu was not charged for procuring his own cancer medication. The charges were for directly facilitating the purchase of the drug for 1000 people, who consequently regard Lu as a hero.

When people can’t afford to obtain life-saving medication locally, the U.S, and all countries, should consider themselves morally obligated to expressly permit their citizens to obtain it internationally.

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Reflections on Medicare Part D as 2015 Sign-Ups End – A Bittersweet Story for American Seniors and Taxpayers

A Bittersweet Prescription

A Bittersweet Prescription

OPEN enrollment for Medicare Part D drug plans ended this past Sunday, but my thoughts about them linger. Our website www.MedicareDrugpPlans.com received about 150 ratings of part D plans in 2014 – most of them highly critical, and some of them downright scathing! Whether it’s a plan’s horrible customer service, lack of coverage of many brand name drugs, or dropped coverage, we’re hearing from many irate seniors. At the same time, some studies have shown most seniors are happy with their plans. Why all the contradictions about Part D? To understand, please join me on a trip down Part D memory lane.

When PharmacyChecker.com was founded in 2002, American seniors did not have pharmacy benefit plans through Medicare. While most seniors had some drug coverage through private health insurance or Medicaid, 25% were without any drug coverage and, thus, vulnerable to a pharmacy’s highest retail price. Just eight months after our website launched in April 2003, Congress passed and the president signed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA), which created a pharmacy benefit opportunity for all Medicare enrollees known as Part D.

It’s amazing and sad to report that, today, the problem of high drug prices for Americans overall is worse than the problems existing before the MMA was born. In 2001, the Commonwealth Fund reported that 28 million Americans did not fill a prescription due to cost. That number shot up to 50 million Americans in 2012!

(more…)

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Sen. Sanders Hearing Shines Bright Light on Bizarre U.S. Generic Drug Price Increases; PharmacyChecker.com Shows How Foreign Brands Are Often Cheaper!

From Pembroke Consulting, published on DrugChannels.net

From Pembroke Consulting, published on DrugChannels.net

Yesterday, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) held a hearing in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Primary Aging and Health entitled “Why Are Some Generic Drugs Skyrocketing in Price?” Bizarre drug price increases of 1,000% and up are becoming more common. This problem is not new: in the beginning of this year the People’s Pharmacy reported a 6,000% increase in the price Doxycycline!

Senator Sanders noted that the price of Digoxin, which treats congestive heart failure, has increased 883% from 12 cents to $1.06 per pill from 2013 to 2014. Migraine drug Divalproex Sodium ER spiked 881% from 27 cents to $2.38 per pill.

We are always ecstatic when Congress scrutinizes the obscene drug prices in America, and we applaud Sen. Sanders, but our focus is on what can be done now so that people today don’t go without needed medications. In his introductory remarks, Sen. Sanders said: “Drug prices in the country are by far the highest in the world.” Let’s elaborate on that. (more…)

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Nexium OTC or Prescription Nexium: Singing the Generic Blues as Esomeprazole Magnesium Stays Purple

Last June we wrote about how Americans taking Nexium – AstraZeneca’s multibillion dollar proton pump inhibitor that treats gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD) – were losing out on savings due to the FDA’s postponement of a generic version in the U.S. market. Well, it looks like they’re going to wait even longer to find generic copies of the Purple Pill at local pharmacies (and the generic versions probably won’t be purple!). Initially, Indian pharmaceutical company Ranbaxy held exclusive marketing approval to sell generic Nexium in the U.S., but they were banned from actually selling it due to poor manufacturing practices. Well, last week the FDA revoked both Ranbaxy’s approval and its marketing exclusivity for generic Nexium. That might be good for the Purple Pill’s profits (say it fast) – but it leaves consumers singing the blues.

Cash paying Americans are left with the following domestic options: Prescription-strength (40 mg), Nexium or Nexium OTC (20 mg). Prescription-strength Nexium will run you about $600 for 60 pills. That’s a ridiculous price. It’s only $70 to get 126 capsules of Nexium OTC! So, can you just buy Nexium OTC instead of prescription-strength Nexium and just take two pills?

You might be able to, but you need to ask your doctor, pharmacist, or other healthcare provider. I asked my local pharmacist if I could just take OTC Nexium instead, and without hesitation she said I could, but that it may not be as effective and that it comes as a tablet rather than a capsule. The OTC version also has different inactive ingredients, I was told, so if you are allergic to any of those, you should stick with the 40 mg version. She suggested OTC Nexium if I couldn’t make a trip to my doctor or if my insurance didn’t cover prescription Nexium. Even if Nexium is covered, it might be a tier 2 or 3 drug, which could result in your co-pay being higher than the OTC cost.

We’d feel remiss in not reminding you that there are a plethora of proton pump inhibitors on the U.S. market, many that come at a much lower price tag.

But if you need to stick with prescription-strength 40 mg Nexium, it is available from international online pharmacies: 60 pills would be about $50, so it’s actually a better deal than Nexium OTC in the U.S. It’s worth noting that just like the OTC 20 mg pill, the 40 mg purple pill is sold as a tablet, not a capsule, in many foreign markets. You can view our comparisons of Nexium prices.

Hopefully we see these delays sorted out, and a generic version of 40 mg Nexium finally come to market in America. Until then, Nexium OTC at your local drugstore or ordering from an international online pharmacy may be your best options to avoid the drug price blues.

 

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Election Day Note: Advocate for Online Access to Affordable Medicine

Protect your RxRightsNo matter how you vote today, or which party you like (if one at all), you may have ended up on this blog because you’re tired of high drug prices or struggling to afford medications you need. PharmacyChecker.com advocates for maximizing consumer-access to the lowest cost, safe and effective medications. We believe that it’s completely unacceptable and unnecessary for tens of millions of Americans to skip filling prescriptions each year because of cost. High drug prices in America are a public health crisis.

Access to affordable medication is a global public health priority and many people view it as a human right. According to the World Health Organization, ten million deaths could be prevented globally by improving access to safe and affordable medication. We strongly believe that much more can and should be done at the global level to help citizens of developing countries obtain life-saving medicines.

Our advocacy focus is – not surprisingly – “online access” to lower-cost medications, which requires an open and free Internet through which consumers can buy medication from safe international online pharmacies. We are a member of the RxRights.org coalition, which focusses on safe personal drug importation through verified international online pharmacies. We strongly encourage you to join them. They have a following of almost 85,000 Americans. Joining is free and for those of you activist-types it could be fun.

There are multinational pharmaceutical corporate forces aligned with willing politicians who accept their campaign contributions to prevent you from obtaining safe lower cost medications from outside the U.S.  Pushing back and promoting online access to safe and affordable medication is not a liberal or conservative effort. It’s a big tent, non-partisan issue that draws consumers from all sides of the political fence who are tired of having to pay the world’s highest drug prices.

So, as long as you’re done voting, take this time to check out RxRights and stand up for more affordable medications!

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