About 90% of the prescriptions filled by seniors are for generic drugs. The eye popping prices for some of the name brand drugs that get all the headlines affect very few people. Less than 2% of Medicare beneficaries will benefit from the $2,000 cap on catastrophic drug costs. Everyone else will continue to have their pockets picked with unlimited price gouging on generics.
Lots of generics are as cheap as aspirin to manufacture, yet your Part D Medicare Drug Plan private insurer could be charging you $40 for a one-month supply of 30 tablets. Great for Executive Compensation, not so much for you.
Health care CEOs and the Senators and Congressmen they’ve bought & paid for are relying on the continued ignorance and innumeracy of the American people. It’s a very safe bet.
A June 2020 price comparison between Canadian and U.S. prescription drugs, conducted by the Campaign for Personal Prescription Importation (CPPI), found that brand name prescription drugs that patients seek in America are actually available at up to 88% savings from licensed Canadian pharmacies.
A June 2020 price comparison between Canadian and U.S. prescription drugs, conducted by the Campaign for Personal Prescription Importation (CPPI), found that brand name prescription drugs that patients seek in America are actually available at up to 88% savings from licensed Canadian pharmacies.
Exactly!
While everyone has been focusing on a few name brand drugs with eye popping pricing, US health insurers have been buying their own captive, Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMS). They now directly profit from price gouging on generics. Your health insurance CEO is still beating the bushes to get the best price on Lisinopril for his own account. But the savings is accruing to him.
While everyone has been focusing on a few name brand drugs with eye popping pricing, US health insurers have been buying their own captive, Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMS). They now directly profit from price gouging on generics. Your health insurance CEO is still beating the bushes to get the best price on Lisinopril for his own account. But the savings is accruing to him.
Perhaps of interest, our local Halifax Costco pharmacy gets a very large share of the PSHCP (retired military and federal government employees). In return we get the discounted price (paying 20%) without having to file claims. They must guarantee that they will fill prescriptions at much cheaper generic prices … even it they don’t have the generic available. I take Nexium 40mg daily but the generic Esomeprazole Magnesium 40 mg is made by Nexium and sold at a tiny fraction of the price. If there is none in stock than they give us Nexium at the Esomeprazole price.
The longer I’ve been retired the more I appreciate having signed up at barely 17. }};-D
It’s a first step.
Given how hard it was to get it passed (50-50), I don’t think we should complain all that loudly.
There’s an election in the fall and again in 2024. If you can change the balance of congress, then you might expect more (or less, depending…).
Or you could try and change human nature of the electorate.
Or you could support an actual revolution.
Or…
I think we all wonder what impact Medicare negotiating prices will have. Only a handful will be negotiated. 20?
But look at statins. There must be half dozen brands available. Suppose Medicare negotiates a 30% reduction with one of them. Will the others match that? Or will they maintain theirs has benefits worth the extra cost.
It will be interesting to see how this all works out.
But look at statins. There must be half a dozen brands available.
There are a lot more than that on the market…and they’re not all the same. A price reduction on one might well have an impact on others in the same class but unlikely across the board. Same for a good many other drugs, I imagine
Been reading an awful lot about statins and other cholesterol lowering medication lately.