Benefits Of Using Generic Drugs For Cancer And Autoimmune Diseases ( Imshealth.com )

Imagine this: you are tragically diagnosed with a chronic life-threatening illness. Your only hope to survive is through medication to treat your disorder. The medicine is pricy but you can work out the costs each month. One day, you go to fill your prescriptions and realize the cost of a $13 pill has jumped to an astounding $750. You need this patented medication to survive and to afford it you end up losing your home, filing for bankruptcy, and sleeping in your car. This story sounds fictional but it is the reality for many Americans who can no longer afford their grossly overpriced medications.

In 2015, the pharmaceutical industry spent over 27 billion dollars on advertising. The two greatest components of this effort were promotional advertising and free medication sampling, which the pharmaceuticals invested 15.5 and 5.7 billion dollars respectively (“Persuading the Prescribers”). Promotional advertising involves direct contact with health professionals, the most common being extravagant lunch conferences held for physicians and their staff. On the other hand, sampling involves distributing free sample of medications to physicians, who then have a choice of providing these samples to patients. As a result of these methods, the industry has seen revenue around $400 billion with 90% of physicians having a relationship with a drug company (Campbell 2007). Moreover, the prices of prescriptions continue to rise; a copay of a generic drug is $11.72, preferred brand drug is $36.37 and a specialty drug is $58.37 (Coleman and Geneson 2014). Although the profits are immense in the numbers demonstrated above, it is no surprise when pharmaceutical drug companies elevate their prices even more. For instance, recently Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of their medication Daraprim from $13.50 to $750. Keep in mind, this medication is used for threatening parasitic infections, aids, and cancer with alternative options currently found to be inefficient (Pollack 2015). Another example of this practice involves cycloserine, a drug used to

The cost of health care has been at the forefront of politics for years. It is one of the most talked about topics not just in political venues but also country wide. Every American has an opinion on how our economy can be fixed and they are passionate about health care reform. The price of insurance alone causes many Americans to not have coverage. For those that can afford coverage, the struggle to pay co pays is immensely crippling their bank accounts. Of these burdens on Americans today, the most frightening fact lies in the cost of prescription medications.

In 2014, the average cost for an individual rose to $5,615. For those that have an income over $200,000 have to pay a higher tax. This tax is called the Robin Hood redistribution and was set to begin in 2014 with the enactment of the Affordable Care Act. For the employers of companies, on average, they would have to pay around 30% for their employees to be covered with healthcare and insurance whereas in 2010, they only had to pay around 10%-20% of their healthcare and insurance. Currently, Americans have higher health insurance premiums, increased deductibles through their health plans, and the highest prescription drug costs our country has ever had. The costs in prescription drugs drastically rose between 2010 and 2014. Since 2010, the average cost for a patient to fill a prescription drug through commercial plans have risen by more than 25%. Drug companies put a higher cost on their drugs in 2014 as they saw the rise of those acquiring health insurance and healthcare. However, in states such as Kentucky and Arkansas, in 2014, people who skipped paying for their medication due to the cost being so high, dropped by 15% from roughly 43% to 28% due to Obamacare. Although, with Medicaid expanding, this puts more pressure on the middle-class population in the country as well as healthcare professionals as many physicians have to pay nearly half of what they earn to the

According to a study, researchers estimated that the total extra cost to government of providing universal pharmacare could range as high as $5.4 billion a year (11). However, through bulk purchases of medication and other measures, this could be reduced to $1 billion (11). In addition, it is possible that people will misuse or overuse medication if it is easily accessible. However, it is suggested that healthy individuals have no intrinsic value in consuming additional prescription drugs, and studies show little evidence to suggest that excess coverage of prescription drug costs is the root cause of these problems (6).

Many patients are finding it more difficult to afford their prescription medications. Comparing health care expenditures in the United States, prescription drug costs rank third compared to hospital expenses and physician services (Omojasola, Hernandez, Sansgiry, & Jones, 2012, p. 479). The rising cost of prescription drugs is concerning to many patients. “The high out-of-pocket prescription drug cost is associated with medication non-adherence and adverse health outcomes” Omojasola, et al., 2012, p. 480).

Pharmaceuticals in the United States have been on the rise for years and everyone is trying to find was to get cheaper medication. New generics, 4 dollar lists, and coupons have been a growing force in pharmacies in the past few years. Some might think, “There has to be laws against rising prices, right?” Well, sort of.

If congress would focus on making generic drugs available the cost of prescriptions would not be as high, and Americans could save approximately $35 billion during the next decade. Compared to $72 a month for brand name drugs, generic versions average $17 a month or 25 to 89 percent lower. Under current legislation original manufacturers of a drug may file multiple lawsuits to prevent other companies from producing a generic version of their drug after the patent runs out. Each lawsuit that is filed delays the production of the generic version by 30 months. If the new bill is passed only one lawsuit will be allowed which would speed the production of generic drugs. The proposed law would also decrease the time it

The rise in costs of prescription medicines affects all sectors of the health care industry, including private insurers, public programs, and patients. Spending on prescription drugs continues to be an important health care concern, particularly in light of rising pharmaceutical costs, the aging population, and increased use of costly specialty drugs. In recent history, increases in prescription drug costs have outpaced other categories of health care spending, rising rapidly throughout the latter half of the 1990s and early 2000s. (Kaiseredu.org, 2012).

In recent years, rising drug prices in the United States raises have impacted patient access to medications, including potentially life-saving medications. It has become extremely difficult for patient to receive medications. The blame is being shifted from insurers, drug manufactures, and the government. Insurers are protesting that specialty drug costs are forcing them to jack up premiums. State Medicaid directors say spiking pharmacy costs are coercing them to make unfortunate coverage trade-offs. From the consumer’s perspective, there is a constant cycle of blame and no actual progress. Fortunately, there are possible solutions the US healthcare can implement to help alleviate rising drug costs; for example, an expedited Abbreviated

Medical cost trend is the projected percentage increase in the cost to treat patients from one year to the next. After significant five-year shrinkage in healthcare spending growth comes to an end by next year as the economy grows stronger it releases a repressed demand for care and services. Despite some higher utilization and cost of new technologies, research for new cures of AIDS, hepatitis C, cancer, and multiple sclerosis, the rise in the expected growth rate in 2015-2016 is tolerable compared to the two-digit annual increases seen through the late 1990s and early 2000s. While the structure of the health care delivery system has undergone significant change over the last decade health care cost inflation slowed recently, primarily as

Today, nearly a quarter of American adults are not able to pay their medical bills or they are forced to make long-term payments. In some cases even Americans who are insured make the choice to wait to seek healthcare treatment because of their high deductibles, copays and cost for prescriptions. ("The Shame of American Health Care," 2013, p. 1).

A problem in our society today is high prescription drug prices. Drug companies have a 20 year time limit to research, manufacture and sell a drug before the patent runs out. Competing companies can then make a generic drug to sell as their own. Many of the newly released drugs cost tens of thousands of dollars for patients. Even after the 20% insurance co-pay these drugs can still cost more than a brand new car. (Lyman) A one month supply of Chemotherapy can cost ten to thirty thousand dollars, when an average income for a family of four is fifty thousand dollars. Therefore families are

The United States health care system costs continues to skyrocket as government intervention fails to regulate the prices of health products and services. The hospitals, drug companies, and other big industries inflate the prices associated with a service, or products used when caring for a patient. Each company marks up their products; for greater profits. Individuals struggle when left without health insurance and find themselves unable to afford these growing costs. As of this year, research data collected by the CDC shows the uninsured rate as 10.3 percent of Americans. The already unaffordable health care bills keep increasing far past the rates of other industrialized nations. Health care in the United States,

According to the article “Originator and generic medicine: pricing and market share” the cost of pharmaceutical drugs accounts for a significant portion of the total health expenditure (Eon Van Der & Brendenkamp, 2013). Pricing strategies are used to create affordable costs, while also providing quality for prescription drug management programs. As part of the goals of pricing strategies, benefit management programs use pharmaceutical benefit managers to negotiate prices, create a savings out of every component of the benefit program, as well as improve clinical outcomes (Jones, 2003). Pharmaceutical benefit managers are used to administer drug benefits on behalf of health plans, and employers (Congressional Budget Office, 2007). The article “Developing an effective generic prescription drug program” by John Jones, discusses a variety of pricing strategies that are offered by pharmaceutical benefit managers. Additionally, the pricing strategy personally recommended by the author will be discussed.