by Gabriel Levitt, Vice President, PharmacyChecker.com and Sam Werbalowsky, Pharmacychecker.com | Sep 5, 2014 | Drug Prices, Generic drugs, Specialty Drugs
Specialty drugs have been in the news for their exorbitant prices lately. Gilead Sciences’ Hepatitis C cure Sovaldi has received media exposure for costing $84,000 and in 2012, when Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center refused to use the colon cancer medication Zaltrap because of its $11,000 a month price, the manufacturer responded by offering discounts of 50%. Will these high prices come way down once the medications go generic?
A new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research, examined costs and utilization of specialty drugs (specifically cancer meds) as generic versions are introduced. Generally, prices for generic drugs drop as more manufacturers produce them due to price competition. This should presumably happen for specialty drugs, but there’s a catch. Many specialty drugs have a small user base and some of them are formulated as solutions or injection, which may require more specialized and expensive manufacturing processes compared to traditional oral drugs (i.e pills, liquids). For those reason, the drugs price discrepancy between brands and generics is not as great among specialty medications compared to regular medications.
The study didn’t analyze the best way to actually pay for these medications. But a recent analysis by HealthPocket took a look at Obamacare plans and specialty meds. Check that out here. We are still researching paying for specialty drugs and will have our own analysis and tips for saving at some point in the future.
Keep in mind that over time specialty drugs, such as Sovaldi, will go generic in the U.S. and be prices considerably lower than the brand. But unlike many pills for high blood pressure, depression, or cholesterol, you won’t find $4 Zaltrap at your local Rite-Aid anytime soon.
I wish I had a more concrete answer and analysis on the prices and access to specialty meds. It’s something that we here at PharmacyChecker.com are keeping an eye on, and we will certainly have updates in the future.
Tagged with: Gilead Sciences, National Bureau of Economic Research, Obamacare, Sloan-Kettering, Sovaldi, specialty drugs, Zaltrap
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Jul 23, 2014 | Drug Prices, Saving Money on Prescription Drugs, Specialty Drugs
Ever since the FDA approved Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), and its price was announced – $1,000 per pill – healthcare advocates, health insurance companies, pharmacy benefit managers, consumer groups, and politicians have been up in arms. Its cost, for the usual prescription of 84 pills, is about $31,000 more than the median annual household income in the United States, which is about $53,000. How could a 12-week drug treatment plan cost $84,000?! Well, the manufacturer of Sovaldi, Gilead Sciences, can charge whatever it wants since there is no equivalent brand drug or generic on the market and the U.S. government, by law, cannot legally negotiate drug prices for Medicare.
The costs to treat Hep C don’t stop with Sovaldi by the way. Depending on the genotype of a person’s Hep C, Sovaldi is prescribed as part of a medication cocktail that also includes either ribavirin or ribavirin and an Interferon treatment. Total prices for treatment can reach $160,000 but we’ll just focus on Sovaldi so as not to bite off more than we can chew.
This Twilight Zone approach to pricing Sovaldi and other specialty medications pumps up the rage volume to a frightening anti-pharma crescendo, but now a moment of silence: Thank you scientists, medical researchers, and dedicated people at Gilead for developing this truly awesome medication and bringing it to market. Sovaldi actually cures Hepatitis C, a disease that afflicts about 3.2 million Americans! Rock on Gilead! Gilead and its shareholders should and shall be rewarded handsomely.
Despite this, Gilead and the Big Pharma Gang should not be allowed to threaten the American healthcare system with obscene prices, even for their wonder drugs. Is Gilead really expecting to be paid $84,000 to treat 3.2 million people: a cost of $268 billion? That is more money than the gross national products of 150 countries! Finland’s annual economic output in 2013 was $257 billion. On to the dirty dollar details… (more…)
Tagged with: Gilead Sciences, Sovaldi, specialty drugs, Specialty Medications
by Gabriel Levitt, Vice President, PharmacyChecker.com and Sam Werbalowsky, Pharmacychecker.com | Jun 13, 2014 | Drug Importation, Drug Prices
A few weeks back we wrote about drug affordability problems related to high deductible Obamacare silver plans. A new report finds problems across all four tiers for patients requiring expensive specialty drugs. Many plans have co-insurance rather than a fixed co-pay for these medications, which means patients pay a percentage of a drug’s price rather than a flat fee. In fact, over 50% of bronze, silver, and gold plans studied had co-insurance rather than fixed co-pays for specialty drugs. That compares to only 38% for platinum plans.
According to Wellmark, “Specialty drugs are prescription medications that require special handling, administration or monitoring. These drugs are used to treat complex, chronic and often costly conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, hepatitis C, and hemophilia.”
Pamela Morris, of Zitter Health Insights, said “A lot of times, if someone has coinsurance their first exposure to OOP [out of pocket costs] is at the pharmacy, where they may be unsure if they’ve met their deductible or if the costs are purely coinsurance.”
So how big could this price shock be? Let’s look at Tecfidera, a sample oral Multiple Sclerosis drug. The cash price is around $6,000 for 60 capsules of the 120 mg dose. Even if your co-insurance is 25%, that’s $1,500. You can purchase the same amount for $1,200 from an international online pharmacy. Still expensive, but a $300 savings is nothing to scoff at. And it’s likely that the co-pay would be even more than 25% in which case the international savings could be much higher.
Gleevec, a medication used to treat certain types of leukemia, is around $29,000 for 90 pills. That will cost you $7,500 if your co-insurance is only 25%. Using an international online pharmacy, you can purchase 90 pills of generic Gleevec for $725 from a Canadian pharmacy. This may even be cheaper than using Novartis’s patient assistance program for brand name Gleevec. The program has strict eligibility requirements but is worth pursuing if you believe you’re eligible.
We’re sorry to report that many specialty meds may not be safe to order from an international online pharmacy. Some might be extremely temperature sensitive, others are administered in a clinical setting, only sold by specialty pharmacies, and some aren’t even approved for sale outside the U.S. For some specialty drugs, the savings might not even be that great, as prices are high globally!
We promise to research all avenues of savings for these medications and report back to you soon…
Tagged with: Gleevec, Obamacare, specialty drugs, tecfidera
