Community Chat

[151949]

The CEO is on TV saying if you have to pay for yours out of pocket they will give you a discount card to get it for $50. She says it was never intended to rip off consumers but for ins. co to pay for it. IMO - that is still a rip off - they are just ripping off ins. co. instead of individuals. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[ValuSkr]

I agree - why is it okay to charge insurance companies an exorbitant rate but not individual consumers?  Won't insurance companies balk?  I hope they would.  No wonder insurance rates are ridiculously high.

[Justice4all]

I read it costs $2 to manufacture.  There is about 35 cents worth of epinephrine per pen.  

[rickiraccoon]

I heard her talk on CNBC yesterday and it was ridiculous. She was talking like people are stupid. If the increase was was for the ins co, who does she think pays for that ins? Pure and simple greed. 

[SeaMaiden]

It all comes down to GREED. 

[Spurt]

And what does she think---- that the insurance companies will happily eat this price increase....who are they going to pass it on to ....THE CONSUMER in the form of higher insurance premiums!!!! 

The contents of the epi-pen has been quoted as only $1-$2 to manufacturer....so it seems they need to work on the "delivery system"......(exorbitant compensation for drug company CEO's, and everyone picking up some cash along the health insurance system's path until medication gets to the consumer).... 

[Tinkrbl44]

Clearly this took them by surprise, since it's been working so well for them in the past.

I think the REAL solution is for other drug companies to jump on the adrenaline pen bandwagon .... STAT.

If there's lots of competition, the prices for these pens will plummet.   If the XYZ pharmaceutical company starts selling their own generic pen two pack for $40, what do you think the EpiPen company will be forced to do?

[Nightowlz]

Who does she thinks pays those Insurance Premiums?  We are still paying. I guess some will qualify for the $50 card while others probably pay more even with their Insurance. I'm so sick of the greedy.

[151949]

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@Tinkrbl44 wrote:

Clearly this took them by surprise, since it's been working so well for them in the past.

I think the REAL solution is for other drug companies to jump on the adrenaline pen bandwagon .... STAT.

If there's lots of competition, the prices for these pens will plummet.   If the XYZ pharmaceutical company starts selling their own generic pen two pack for $40, what do you think the EpiPen company will be forced to do?

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Unfortunately, they probably have a patent on this delivery system.

[Spurt]

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@ValuSkr wrote:

I agree - why is it okay to charge insurance companies an exorbitant rate but not individual consumers?  Won't insurance companies balk?  I hope they would.  No wonder insurance rates are ridiculously high.

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@ValuSkr

I will give you another example of why insurance rates are ridiculously high.  My employer had to switch health insurance companies (the company we were using got gobbled up so they found another comparable plan).....I had lab work done for a routine yearly physical....after paying my co-pay, and after the insurance paid their portion, there was $8 remaining on the bill....I instructed them to take the remainder out of my Personal Care Account.....For some odd reason they then balked and requested additional documentation (keep in mind they had already received an invoice from the lab and doctor)....but still they wanted more documentatin and there were no special labs required just the ususal as always......I could not upload the documents to them (their system doesnt accept uploads of documents ) so they insisted I fax the needed documentation with their cover sheet with a bar code that they emailed to me to print and include with my fax....My printer is old and does not have a fax which means I'd have to pay $1.50 per page to get it faxed at my expense...which would cost me $4.50 and we are talking an $8 claim here.... I called them and raised heck....and told them I'm sure the person that would process the request makes at least $10 an hour or more...this whole thing didn't make sense and this is one reason why insurance premiums and co-pays keep rising....Friends with other companies said their insurance pays anything under $15 with a valid invoice!!!  I told them to cancel the request and I would just pay the dang $8 out of my own pocket....The Rep was somewhat snippity saying if you want to be reimbursed for paying it out of my own pocket they would still require the documentation....I told her $8 was not worth my time expense or aggravation, but I would certanly submit a complaint to our Benefits Department and urge them to search for another compan next enrollment and gave the names of the other 2 companies that my friends had with no documentation for claims under $15.....  And this, ladies and gentlemen is another reason our rates our high.....someone at the insurance company paid a Billing Specialist at least $10 an hour to be nit picky over a remaining balance of $8 with a valid detailed invoice from the lab ---doesnt even make sense... It seems our health care system needs some good ole fashion common sense.....