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Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,739
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Drug prices increasing 10X rate of inflation

[ Edited ]

This is really unconscionable

 

 

edited to remove link containing politial links

Honored Contributor
Posts: 30,918
Registered: ‎05-10-2010

Re: Drug prices increasing 10X rate of inflation

Yes but the pricing of drugs is about 100 times more complicated than the average person could ever believe.  

Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,739
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Drug prices increasing 10X rate of inflation

It might be complicated, but I know my thyroid has jumped at least 30%...outrageous

Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,017
Registered: ‎06-09-2014

Re: Drug prices increasing 10X rate of inflation

Amazon had a great thought to get into online pharmacy.  They probably aren't going forward because the legal licensure itself would be a nightmare as well as the literal act of Congress to make it a reality. 

 

Would be nice for all of us though......Smiley Very Happy

 

Did you catch how PhRMA blamed the retailers for not passing along the negotiated savings to the Medicare customers?  I would love to know what she is on to make a ridiculous statement like that.   

Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,017
Registered: ‎06-09-2014

Re: Drug prices increasing 10X rate of inflation

So can anyone find the actual list of the 20 brand name drugs? I've googled and not been able to locate yet.  I want to make sure we are not all being scammed here. 

 

If some or most of the top 20 brand names they are looking at have generics, this report is misleading since any company or food item is going to ask you to pay more for brand and you have the easy option to not pay for it. 

 

I don't see that addressed anywhere in this reporting and I trust nothing when it comes to journalists actually giving a balanced story with all aspects considered.  

Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,233
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Drug prices increasing 10X rate of inflation

@chrystaltreeFor sure!   Some drugs increase, some drugs decrease -  and if anyone else works the way I do, I react most to the prices of the drugs I use.

 

Just recently, I notices that some companies are now offering a whole new list of commonly used drugs for very low co-pays (obviously you've got to be insured to even have a co-pay) and then there's the list of commonly prescribed drugs that are free a number of places.

 

But there are also new or relatively new drugs that cost more than any of us can imagine having the money to afford.

 

I don't even begin to understand the how and why of the pricing, but I do remember as far back as Walter Kronkite's time hearing him say, "Stay healthy because it's the only way you're going to be able to grow old."  We're certainly seeing that - modern medicine can accomplish amazing things, but how can they be financed?

Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,139
Registered: ‎04-16-2010

Re: Drug prices increasing 10X rate of inflation

Well, I never knew the cost of drugs until I hopped on to the PPO train with a deductible. I went from my parents insurance (I didn't pay anything) to military to an HMO and it wasn't until after my first child was born that a PPO became an option in my world. THAT was when I discovered the cost of drugs being high. As my deductible went up and up and up and we became responsible for more and more of our costs, I began asking doctors for samples, if procedures were necessary, using Minute Clinics instead of our regular docs, etc. 

 

From what I've seen, read and heard around me, the vast majority of people are clueless what drugs cost UNTIL they have to pay for them; then it's an eye opener. Drugs have been expensive for YEARS but now that more and more of the cost has to be shared by the patient, it's suddenly a serious issue. It was ALWAYS a serious issue but the majority were clueless. It's always that way: not my problem until it IS my problem (meaning you have to pay for it). 

 

The system is a mess and I have NO idea how it can be fixed; can it be fixed. The grass isn't any greener in other countries, either. In the end, profits are king and  nothing is actually free.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,795
Registered: ‎11-16-2014

Re: Drug prices increasing 10X rate of inflation


@Laura14wrote:

So can anyone find the actual list of the 20 brand name drugs? I've googled and not been able to locate yet.  I want to make sure we are not all being scammed here. 

 

If some or most of the top 20 brand names they are looking at have generics, this report is misleading since any company or food item is going to ask you to pay more for brand and you have the easy option to not pay for it. 

 

I don't see that addressed anywhere in this reporting and I trust nothing when it comes to journalists actually giving a balanced story with all aspects considered.  


Surely, @Laura14, you are familiar with the price of Levemir and Novolog insulin? There is no generic and the price has nearly tripled in a ten year period. I shudder to think if someone doesn't have good insurance how they keep themselves alive with the ridiculously high cost of insulin. Add to that the pen needles and strips for a glucometer and diabetes becomes a struggle for many to continue filling their prescriptions.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,017
Registered: ‎06-09-2014

Re: Drug prices increasing 10X rate of inflation


@SahmIamwrote:

Well, I never knew the cost of drugs until I hopped on to the PPO train with a deductible. I went from my parents insurance (I didn't pay anything) to military to an HMO and it wasn't until after my first child was born that a PPO became an option in my world. THAT was when I discovered the cost of drugs being high. As my deductible went up and up and up and we became responsible for more and more of our costs, I began asking doctors for samples, if procedures were necessary, using Minute Clinics instead of our regular docs, etc. 

 

From what I've seen, read and heard around me, the vast majority of people are clueless what drugs cost UNTIL they have to pay for them; then it's an eye opener. Drugs have been expensive for YEARS but now that more and more of the cost has to be shared by the patient, it's suddenly a serious issue. It was ALWAYS a serious issue but the majority were clueless. It's always that way: not my problem until it IS my problem (meaning you have to pay for it). 

 

The system is a mess and I have NO idea how it can be fixed; can it be fixed. The grass isn't any greener in other countries, either. In the end, profits are king and  nothing is actually free.


So true. 

 

And most people have no idea what kind of R&D goes into creating the drugs so many of us rely on.  And the vast majority of the time, it ends in no drug at all just monster research bills. 

 

It is extremely costly to take a stab at curing or helping a condition.  You have got to have significant profit in the equation (hence patents) so that companies remain in business to at least try and develop medications that one day most of us will need to continue to live.  PhRMA is not all bad.      

Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,017
Registered: ‎06-09-2014

Re: Drug prices increasing 10X rate of inflation

[ Edited ]

That was my point @Trinity11.  I want to know what drugs we are talking about which I am still looking for and shouldn't have to if a real journalist wrote this piece.   

 

I just want to be sure the article is honest and supports exactly what you just brought up.

 

 

Because I can tell you that one of the drugs highlighted (NitroStat) most definitely has a generic as do most cholesterol medications which were also mentioned but only as a class.  No specifics and I want them!