by PharmacyChecker.com | Sep 27, 2012 | Drug Prices, Medication non-adherence
New data from Consumer Reports shows that 67% more adults without prescription benefits under the age of 65 skipped filling a prescription due to high drug prices this year compared to last year. In 2012, 45% of respondents reported they did not fill a prescription due to cost, up from 27% in 2011.
Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs Tracking Poll, July 2012,
Consumer Reports National Research Center. Click to enlarge.
These results should not be surprising. Many Americans aged 50-65 who lost their jobs during the recession also lost their health insurance. This age group has also had the most difficulty finding work after losing their jobs during the recession. These Americans are not yet eligible for Medicare Part D, which helps reduce prescription drug costs.
Alarmingly, the majority of respondents (both insured and uninsured) to the Consumer Reports survey said that they reduced other household expenses in order to pay for medications. Eighty-four percent of uninsured Americans reported a change in behavior in order to pay for medication. The number of insured Americans reporting a change is also high, at 59%. Budgets for groceries decreased, payment of bills postponed, and credit card payments increased: all because of the high cost of medication.
If you are struggling to pay for medication, keep the following in mind when about to purchase medication. Look for generic alternatives to brand name medications in the United States. Look for drug discount cards or coupons if you are purchasing medicine at a local pharmacy. If there’s no generic alternative, you can look for international online pharmacies and often find savings of 90%. Just make sure they are verified and safe, such as those listed on PharmacyChecker.com.
Tagged with: Consumer Reports, Drug Prices, Medication Adherence, pharmacychecker.com
by PharmacyChecker.com | Apr 18, 2012 | Drug Importation, Drug Prices, Medication non-adherence, Online Pharmacies
Today we issued a press release showing that the most popular brand name asthma medications are on average 76% less when purchasing from the lowest-cost PharmacyChecker.com-verified online pharmacies than at U.S. bricks and mortar pharmacies. For example, a three month supply of Advair Diskus (250-50mcg/dose), a popular preventative medication, costs $947.97 at a bricks-and-mortar pharmacy in New York City. The same medicine, by the same manufacturer, costs $149.00, at a verified international online pharmacy – a savings of 84%. With such high prices domestically it’s no surprise Americans with asthma often find themselves going without needed treatments and ending up in emergency rooms.
A 2005 study sponsored by Kaiser Family Foundation, Harvard School of Public Health, and USA Today found that 44% of American households with an asthma sufferer are unable to follow prescribed treatments due to cost. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1.7 million Americans went to emergency rooms in 2009 due to their asthma conditions. The CDC attributed such hospitalizations to low adherence to asthma management strategies, which include taking preventative asthma medication. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association last month reported that out-of-pocket costs for medicine were a factor in greater hospitalization rates among children with asthma in the U.S
The health benefits of products such as Advair Diskus, Flovent, and Singulair – preventative asthma medications –are sometimes difficult for patients to ascertain when they are not showing asthma symptoms. Unfortunately, because prices for these products are so high in the United States, Americans view skipping these medications as a way to save money and others simply can’t afford them. If more Americans could find these products at more reasonable prices, such as from verified international online pharmacies, then adherence would improve, leading to less ER visits, better overall health outcomes, and lower healthcare costs for all of us. And with more affordable asthma medication, trips to the grocery store will be less daunting.
For more on asthma medication prices, see the press release.
Tagged with: Advair Diskus, Asthma Medication, Emergency Room Visits, Flovent, Journal of the American Medical Association, Singulair, Symbicort, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Mar 7, 2012 | Advocacy, Drug Prices, Medication non-adherence, Skipping medications
Today, the AARP reported that brand name drug prices increased by 41% between 2006-2009, approximately three times the rate of inflation. In the New York Times article announcing the study, AARP refers to the price increases as “relentless”. The media often reports on studies about drug price increases because it’s an issue of great frustration for millions of Americans; and this blog has presented the facts on how tens of millions of Americans skip medication due to cost. But what are the public health ramifications of high drug costs? (more…)
Tagged with: AARP, drug prices out of reach, durg price study
