by Gabriel Levitt, Vice President, PharmacyChecker.com and Sam Werbalowsky, Pharmacychecker.com | Oct 2, 2013 | Drug Importation, Healthcare Reform, Online Pharmacies, Politics
This past Monday, we reported that average savings from international online pharmacies are now 87% on popular brand name meds, up from 85% a year ago. As Americans gain access to health insurance through state exchanges under Obamacare, which kicked off yesterday, will there still be a need for the international online pharmacy option?
Yes.
It may come as a surprise, but international online pharmacies benefit people with insurance, not just the uninsured. If a plan does not cover a drug, or has a high deductible or co-pay, ordering from abroad may help those on that particular plan. Fortunately, new health plans will help millions of Americans afford needed medication at neighborhood pharmacies, but some will continue to fall through the cracks.
Twenty-one percent of Americans with prescription benefits skipped filling a prescription in 2012 because of high prices, according to the Commonwealth Fund. Therefore, unless drug prices unexpectedly come down in America, we can predict that millions of Americans will still struggle with high drug prices in the U.S., and that many of them will seek relief from international online pharmacies.
There are other reasons that Americans can’t count on Obamacare to improve their access to affordable medication, especially in 2014. Due to a delay in implementing Obamacare’s spending cap of $6,350 a year, insurance plans that use more than one benefits administrator will not be subject to the cap next year. Instead, they will apply the cap to each benefit separately. Thus, Americans choosing an insurance plan that works with an independent pharmacy benefit manager may see one cap for doctor and hospital visits of $6,350 and another cap of $6,350 for medication! See our blog post “Obamacare Out-of-Pocket Cost Delays A Bad Prescription for Consumers” for more information on this topic.
Last but not least, the new plans may leave you with huge out-of-pocket drug costs if you take expensive medications. A report in the New York Times shows that plans in some states will require patients to pay as much as 50% of a drug’s cost. Depending on the medication, 50% of a drug’s price can be prohibitive for many Americans. The Times article mentions the drug Tecfidera, which costs $4,000 a month; many Americans will struggle to make the initial payments of $2,000 or more before their out-of-pocket limit is reached.
We believe that over time Obamacare will succeed in helping millions of Americans afford medical care, including prescription medication. But the road ahead is a long one and we can’t let tens of millions continue to go without medication in the years to come. Fortunately, the lifeline of safe personal drug importation through verified international online pharmacies is available. If you choose to order from abroad, make sure you only order form a credentialed, verified pharmacy, such as those listed on PharmacyChecker.com.
We will continue to monitor and report on how Obamacare affects drug prices and access by Americans to prescription medication.
Tagged with: Commonwealth Fund, New York Times, Obamacare, out-of-pocket costs
by Tod Cooperman, MD, President, PharmacyChecker.com, and Gabriel Levitt, Vice President, PharmacyChecker.com | Apr 23, 2012 | Advocacy, Drug Importation, Drug Prices, Online Pharmacy Verification Services, Personal Drug Importation
The main Op-Ed article in today’s New York Times, “The Wrong Way to Stop Fake Drugs,” calls for the legalization of personal drug importation from credentialed international online pharmacies, such as those approved in the PharmacyChecker.com Verification Program. Authored by Roger Bate, a resident scholar at American Enterprise Institute, the central message of the piece is that the technical ban on personal drug importation does not help the fight against counterfeit drugs but does discourage Americans from getting needed medication. We couldn’t agree more.
Dr. Bate offers evidence-based and compassionate approaches to help uninsured/underinsured Americans obtain medication at affordable prices and reduce the threat of counterfeit medication domestically and abroad. For more on this story see today’s press release
For the past year, Americans who buy medication from international online pharmacies have engaged through RxRights.org to help stop government actions that could block their online access to safe and affordable medication. Taking the cue from this latest op-ed, Americans should start asking their leaders to pass legislation directing the FDA to provide accurate information about online pharmacies. At the very least, the FDA should cease its categorical warning against all international online pharmacies for the simple reason that some are very safe and can help more Americans afford needed medications.
We looked at the top five brand name drugs by sales today to highlight the incredible price discrepancies between US pharmacy and international online pharmacy prices.
Tagged with: affordable prescriptions, international pharmacies, New York Times, Online Pharmacies, prescription drug importation, prescription legislation, Roger Bate
by PharmacyChecker.com | Nov 15, 2011 | Drug Prices, Generic drugs
Our last post highlighted the end-of-the-month release of the long-awaited generic version of Lipitor, the most popular cholesterol-lowering drug in America. Brand-name Lipitor, manufactured by drug giant Pfizer, has been one of the key contributors to American’s high drug bills for the past 15 years. A generic version will mean massive savings for some and basic affordability for many.
Last week, however, the New York Times shared that Pfizer (unsurprisingly) wants to block access to that affordable generic. Pfizer is going to offer “large discounts for benefit managers that block the use of generic versions of Lipitor” – “When patients submit a prescription for a generic version of Lipitor, they are to be given Lipitor instead.” So, those covered by the benefit managers who accept the discount will end up paying the same high co-pay, despite the availability of a lower priced drug!
These tactics by the largest drug manufacturer to keep drug prices higher are disappointing but not surprising. After all, in addition to lobbying the U.S. government to prevent safe personal drug importation, it funds programs to scare Americans away from buying its own medication at a lower price from Canada and other countries.
Pfizer’s latest move seems to only affect Americans with health insurance who, under the Pfizer/benefit manager deal, would pay $25 monthly co-pays (instead of $10 per month) – that’s $75 for a three month supply. That’s a stark contrast to Americans without health insurance who can pay $535.00 at a local CVS in New York City. By comparing prices of verified online pharmacies at PharmacyChecker.com, the uninsured may at least knock their monthly brand name Lipitor costs to $85.70.
Fortunately, due to the economics of generic drug competition, generic Lipitor prices will eventually offer great savings to the uninsured and we’ll be keeping you updated as those new products come to market.
Tagged with: brand-name, Cholesterol, co-pays, CVS, generic drugs, health insurance, insured, Lipitor, New York City, New York Times, PBM, Pfizer, pharmacy benefit managers, pharmacychecker.com, uninsured, United States
