by PharmacyChecker.com | Oct 10, 2011 | Drug Prices, Medicare Drug Plans
An article published last week in Reuters suggests that Medicare Part D drug plans may be dropping premium prices – an effect of the healthcare reform law which could greatly benefit seniors if they shop around. Reevaluating your Medicare drug plan yearly during the open enrollment period is always a good idea, but this year plan selection could make a big difference.
Although we reported in August that plan premiums will not raise in 2012, Avalere Health, a health policy consulting firm, finds that while 10 of the top Part D plans will lower prices, six plans will raise premiums. However, the good news is that in the larger picture Avalere “projects that average premiums for both prescription drug and Advantage plans will fall 4 percent for 2012.” Because of the 2010 heath reform law, Dan Mendelson, Avalere Health’s CEO, is calling this a “year of change.” He tells Reuters, “It’s a year where patients really need to shop.”
MedicareDrugPlans.com provides ratings and reviews – along with basic plan information such as deductibles and premiums– for consumers to access during their research period. Ratings and comments help Medicare enrollees understand the pros and cons of a plan, and user comments and forum posts give details on what other Americans experienced with their plans.
Open enrollment will be from October 15th – December 7th this year, a change from previous years meant to give Medicare enough time to process all changes and new enrollees, and for consumers to manage their health needs before the busy holiday season.
Tagged with: Avalere Health, deductibles, Drug Prices, Medicare, Medicare Drug Plans, Medicare Part D, medicaredrugplans.com, Open Enrollment, premiums, Reuters, save money
by PharmacyChecker.com | Oct 3, 2011 | Drug Prices
Last week, Roger Bate, an economist and expert in counterfeit drugs with the American Enterprise Institute, wrote an article called “Google’s Ad Freedom Wrongly Curtailed.” Bate’s piece shows how banning safe foreign online pharmacies from advertising on Google and elsewhere is not only unethical but will lead to sub-optimal health outcomes. As we wrote at the end of August, the non-prosecution agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Google, in which the search engine was fined $500 million for allowing rouge Canadian sites to advertise controlled substances, is good because it forces Google to now block dangerous rogue online pharmacies from advertising. At the same time, however, it’s bad because it appears to prevent Google from allowing safe and affordable Canadian-based online pharmacies form advertising as well.
The DOJ/Google settlement appears to reflect the false rhetoric espoused by the U.S. government and pharmaceutical industry that only U.S. online pharmacies can be safe. Bate knows this is not true based on his own empirical studies, which found that properly credentialed non-U.S. online pharmacies sell genuine medication at a lower cost and require a prescription. By blocking safe Canadian pharmacies from advertising to Americans on Google, it is more difficult for needy Americans to find them. Bate writes:
Google’s current policy removes the potentially lethal sellers, but by disallowing credentialed foreign sites from advertising it will harm public health. The tens of millions of uninsured Americans who cannot afford their drugs will go online to circumvent this obstruction. If they are unaware of pharmacychecker.com’s credentialing, they will play Russian roulette and may end up buying a lethal product.
With media outlets and politicians inundated with a voracious pharmaceutical industry public relations assault that seeks to paint all non-U.S. online pharmacies as rogue, the victim here is the American seeking affordable medication online because he or she can’t afford it here at home. Bate wrote: “What is surprising is that independent groups, like Consumer Reports and AARP, have bought into this industry rhetoric or have failed to properly explain to their members that foreign doesn’t necessarily mean dangerous.” (more…)
Tagged with: AARP, adSense, advertising, AEI, American Enterprise Institute, Americans, Canada, Canadian pharmacies, Consumer Reports, controlled substances, Department of Justice, DOJ, Google, Online Pharmacies, pharmacychecker.com, Roger Bate, rogue pharmacies, safe pharmacies, United States
by PharmacyChecker.com | Sep 16, 2011 | Advocacy, Drug Importation
Earlier this week, the head of RxRights.org, Lee Graczyk, issued a statement urging Congress “to exercise common sense and recognize that personal drug importation from legitimate, licensed pharmacies is a necessity for millions of Americans today.” Graczyk’s message was quoted in a CNBC article entitled, Why US Pays More for Health Care Than Other Nations. As a coalition member of RxRights.org, we are proud of the strong advocacy work they are doing to help seniors and all Americans gain access to affordable medication.
by PharmacyChecker.com | Sep 9, 2011 | Medicare Drug Plans
New research shows that the Medicare drug plan “doughnut hole” seriously endangers not only the pocketbook, but also the health of our nation’s seniors and other Medicare enrollees. Two separate studies released this month show that patients who reach the coverage gap are more likely to stop taking their medication than they are to switch to a cheaper drug: the Public Library of Science published Changes in Drug Utilization During a Gap in Insurance Coverage: An Examination of the Medicare Part D Coverage Gap, and the Kaiser Family Foundation Program on Medicare Policy published Understanding the Effects of the Medicare Part D Coverage Gap in 2008 and 2009.
The putative reason for the coverage gap is that the threshold will teach consumers to be aware of drug costs. Jennifer Polinski, ScD, MPH, the author of PLoS study says, “there is an expectation that people will seek less expensive drug options when they enter the donut hole.” However, these studies reveal that this is clearly not the case. Research from 2006 and 2007 shows that beneficiaries were 40% less likely to switch a drug if they did not receive financial assistance, as opposed to those beneficiaries who did. Likewise, the Kaiser study reveals that about 3.4 million, or 12%, of Part D enrollees who reached the gap in 2008 and 2009 discontinued their medication. (more…)
Tagged with: brand name drugs, coverage gap, doughnut hole, generic drugs, Kaiser, Medicare, Part D, PLoS, prescription abandonment, prescription non-adherence, Public Library of Science, research
by Gabriel Levitt, Vice President, PharmacyChecker.com and Margaret Rode, PharmacyChecker.com | Aug 31, 2011 | Drug Prices, Healthcare Reform
A new report by the Commonwealth Fund, from their 2010 Biennial Health Insurance Survey, shows that 48 million Americans, ages 19-64, did not fill a prescription due to cost in 2010, up from 29 million in 2001 – a 66% increase. The study includes both insured and uninsured Americans but does not include children and seniors. The study indicates that the recession has greatly exacerbated the national crisis of prescription non-adherence (skipping medications), as nine out of 16 million Americans who have lost their job have also lost their health insurance.
It is difficult to estimate the sickness and even death that has resulted from so many millions of Americans not taking their prescribed medication due to cost. As evidenced by the new report, the situation is particularly dire for uninsured Americans with chronic medical conditions, as 27 million “skipped doses or did not fill a prescription for their condition because of the cost.” (more…)
Tagged with: Affordable Care Act, Biennial Health Insurance Survey, chronic, Commonwealth Fund, consumer guide, health insurance, Medicare, Medicare Drug Plans, prescription costs, skipping medicine, United States
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Aug 24, 2011 | Internet Censorship, Online Pharmacies
UPDATED: August 24, 2011, 6:30pm
The United States Department of Justice just announced that Google will be paying a $500 million penalty to the U.S. government for allowing Canadian pharmacies to advertise to Americans. We are familiar with this case, having been asked to testify in it – and we are mentioned several times in the settlement.
Although we tried to help Google vet pharmacy advertisers from 2006 to 2009, it is clear that Google was not limiting pharmacy advertisers to just those verified in our Pharmacy Verification Program – as noted on pages 4 and 5 of the settlement. That was bad because it allowed advertising by pharmacies that did not require valid U.S. prescriptions and/or sold controlled substances into the U.S. – activities which we do not permit in our program. As noted on page 6 of the settlement, the $500 million amount is based on revenues generated from the advertising and sales of “controlled” substances, not all medicines.
On the other hand, we believe that efforts to help Americans find more affordable and safe sources of medication are necessary and should be praised. And Google also did that: Although it can’t anymore – at least not through advertisements – and we think that’s wrong.
Unfortunately, the Department of Justice is publicizing the settlement in a misleading manner that paints all non-U.S. online pharmacies as “patently unsafe,” and “contributing to America’s pill problem”. Peer-reviewed research shows that buying prescription medications from licensed pharmacies in other countries, and specifically those verified in the PharmacyChecker.com Verification Program, is safe. Genuine medicines (and no controlled substances) are obtained, typically at savings of 80% or more on brand name medications – and prescriptions are required. Also, while the DOJ’s announcement emphasizes the illegality of personal drug importation, it fails to mention that individuals, as a matter of FDA’s policies, are not prosecuted for buying non-controlled drugs from outside the U.S. for their own use.
An FDA representative says in today’s announcement that the settlement “demonstrates the commitment of the Food and Drug Administration to protect the US consumer and hold all contributing parties accountable for conduct that results in vast profits at the expense of public health.” While this is in part true, it ignores the fact that much greater profits are being made by pharmaceutical companies at the expense of public health by keeping Americans captive to inflated drug prices. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported, 25 million Americans did not take their prescribed medication due to cost in 2009, almost double the number in 1997. Personal drug importation from properly verified and reputable Canadian online pharmacies clearly benefits public health by making drugs more affordable for Americans.
For a take on this situation from the perspective of a knowledgeable physician who purchases his own medicine from abroad, see the recent article by Stephen Barrett, M.D., founder of Pharmwatch.org and Quackwatch.org.
Tagged with: Department of Justice, Google settlement, Rhode Island
