by PharmacyChecker.com | Sep 27, 2010 | Medicare Drug Plans
As we previously reported, nearly 3 million seniors will be forced to change their Medicare drug plan this year due to the new health reform law. Now, in addition to the millions who have to, many may voluntarily change plans if their premiums go up, which is likely. A new report from Avalere Health, a private research firm, shows that among the top Medicare plans, premiums are expected raise an average of 10%.
In general, Medicare officials say the average premium should only raise 1%, but on the high end it could be up to 43%! Enrollees of the First Health Part D Premier Plus plan offered by Coventry Health Care will see monthly payments rise from $64 to $91 – that’s over $300 for the year. Another startling change will be for members of the AARP MedicareRX Saver plan, the second most popular among seniors. These enrollees will be switched to the largest plan, AARP MedicareRX Preferred, and will see, on average, a 15% raise in premiums. (more…)
Tagged with: AARP, Avalere Health, Healthcare Reform, MedicareRX Preferred, MedicareRX Saver plan, Part D, seniors
by Gabriel Levitt, Vice President, PharmacyChecker.com and Margaret Rode, PharmacyChecker.com | Aug 27, 2010 | Drug Prices
AARP, the leading advocacy group for America’s seniors, released a new study confirming that brand name drug prices were way up – 8.3 % higher on average – in 2009. These large increases occurred during a year when the consumer price index was actually down by .4% . The report also finds that over the past five years, brand-name drug costs have increased by 41.5%, during which inflation only rose by 13%. Noteworthy in this report is that its authors, responding to pharmaceutical industry critics who contested that prior AARP reports only looked at manufacturer prices, derived the current findings by calculating the average retail prices of over 200 popular brand name drugs.
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Tagged with: AARP, Drug Prices, health, pharmacychecker.com, phrma
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | May 25, 2010 | Drug Prices
In sharp contrast to major increases in U.S. brand name drug prices, prices on brand name medication from online pharmacies dispensing from abroad have decreased over the past 18 months according to our most recent price analysis. Looking at ten popular brand name medications, prices on eight products decreased by 7% to 26% and increased for only two products. During the same period, U.S. pharmacy prices increased by 7% to 24%, or an average 15%, excluding Prevacid which dropped in price due to generic competition. The increase in U.S. prices is consistent with figures recently reported by AARP. American consumers can now save on average 73% on brand name drugs purchased from Canadian or other international online pharmacies compared to domestic bricks and mortar pharmacies. For details click here.
Tagged with: AARP, Canadian pharmacies, Drug Prices, international pharmacies
