by Gabriel Levitt, Vice President, PharmacyChecker.com and Sam Werbalowsky, Pharmacychecker.com | Mar 20, 2012 | Drug Prices, Healthcare Reform, Saving Money on Prescription Drugs, Skipping medications
There is a drug affordability crisis in America. As we’ve reported, in 2010 48 million adults did not fill a prescription due to high drug costs. Perhaps surprisingly, in addition to millions of uninsured Americans, many Americans with insurance forgo prescription medication due to cost. Such insured Americans, unable to cover necessary medical costs, including medication, are often referred to as the underinsured. A previous study from 2004 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists reveals that 82.1% of those who restricted medication to due costs were actually insured. The picture is clear; underinsurance is a major issue in the battle to afford prescribed medication.
The Affordable Healthcare For America Act will help millions of Americans, including with their drug bills – but it is not a cure-all. It is uncertain how the new regulations will affect drug pricing. With drug price negotiations and cost reducing drug importation measures excluded from the healthcare act, and with millions of insured Americans currently struggling to pay high drug costs, what is to say newly insured people will not struggle to afford or go without prescribed medications?
Throughout the year PharmacyCheckerBlog will be following the research and predictions about drug affordability under the new law. Stay tuned…
Tagged with: affordable prescriptions, Drug Prices, Healthcare Reform
by Gabriel Levitt, Vice President, PharmacyChecker.com and Margaret Rode, PharmacyChecker.com | Feb 17, 2012 | Healthcare Reform, Medicare Drug Plans, Personal Drug Importation
“President Obama just released next year’s budget proposal and it has already sparked fierce criticism from the pharmaceutical industry. That’s because the plan would require Big Pharma to give an additional $156 billion in drug rebates over the next decade.”
This news comes from RxRight.org’s latest blog post, entitled Big Pharma balks at President’s proposed budget. Not surprisingly, as articulated by its president, John Castellani, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America is against the rebates and other reforms found in Obama’s budget. One point championed by Mr. Castellani as a reason to criticize President Obama is that the “Medicare Part D is working well for seniors.” While Part D has certainly helped many seniors afford needed medication, the RxRights post, and empirical data, show that millions of seniors still struggle to afford necessary, and sometimes life-saving, prescription drugs because of costs – despite Medicare Part D drugs plans.
In fact, the failure of Medicare Part D is one reason that reputable international online pharmacies remain a lifeline for Medicare enrollees. It appears if Obama’s budget is approved, without changes to his prescription drug rebate requests, then more Americans will forgo the international option in favor of domestic pharmacies.
Tagged with: affordable prescriptions, Americans, brand name drugs, Healthcare Reform, Medicare, Medicare Drug Plans, Obama, Part D, personal drug importation, phrma, rebates, save money, United States
by PharmacyChecker.com | Mar 24, 2011 | Saving Money on Prescription Drugs
We are proud to announce a second free edition of a special report written for the American consumer, entitled How To Save Money on Prescription Drugs, Safely – A Consumer Guide. In the first edition, published in 2008, our data showed a potential average savings on brand name drugs of 73% from verified international online pharmacies; the savings are now 80%. These even greater savings are due largely to increases in drug prices in the United States and stable or even lower drug prices outside the United States.
With generic drugs, the best prices remain in the U.S. By shopping at wholesale club online pharmacies and large retailers with discounted generics, average savings of 82% are possible on widely used generic drug products.
Sadly, too many Americans skip doses or stop taking their medication all together because of cost. In fact, recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control shows that 25 million Americans did not take their medication due to cost in 2009. Affording prescription drugs should not be a matter of life and death. Our Consumer Guide offers a lifeline to American patients, enabling them to safely lower their drug costs to access the healthcare they need.
For more information on the Consumer Guide, see our news release.
Tagged with: affordable prescriptions, brand name drugs, consumer guide, drug costs, free, generic drugs, news release, Online Pharmacies, save money, U.S. Center for Disease Control, United States
