Synthesis Essay On Drug Cost

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.

As we advance in our healthcare system and continue to find cure for the deadly diseases we are also faced with prescription drug prices rising much faster than they were a few years back. Drug prices are increasing at an unmaintainable rate without any sign of reduction. People who are heavily affected by this rise are mostly elderly citizens and also the poor of this country because they can barely afford these expenses. These people either have no money to pay for their copays or no health insurances at all.

Under the existing federal Medicaid pharmacy benefit program, fee-for-service reimbursement rates for prescription drugs are based on the actual invoice cost of prescription drugs plus a reasonable professional dispensing fee. Any federal reforms to Medicaid which would allow states to set Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement rates below actual drug acquisition costs could seriously jeopardize Medicaid patient access to Medicaid drugs. Whether in a Medicaid managed care or fee-for-service setting, a Medicaid program that reimburses below actual drug costs raises a barrier that may limit or eliminate access points for patients to utilize their Medicaid drug benefits. Even with a cost-based drug reimbursement floor, Medicaid programs can fully avoid patient access barriers only through the addition of adequate dispensing fees that are more reflective of the cost to provide healthcare services in the

As our great country grows we fix and find new problems every day. One of the biggest debates in the country is regarding whether or not the new “Affordable Care Act” is posing a problem to American society and lifestyle. Many actors, sports men, and friendly faces would tell you how wonderful it will be for American medicine once the populace is insured. However “Affordable care is more of a pipe dream in America until we are a more fiscally stable country, as well as a better approach to socialized medicine. For now the only thing we should be doing regarding health care is stapling a limit to make it more affordable for middle and lower class people instead of penalizing people for something they cannot afford.

Prescription drug prices are on the rise in the United States. Currently, the United States does not implement a price control on prescription drugs. Every day the supply and demand for prescription drugs fluctuates. Pharmaceutical companies produce drugs that are necessary for survival. Therefore, it is necessary for research and development to continue in the United States. Those suffering the effects of exorbitant prices must do so until a generic form of a prescription drug is produced. Once approved by the FDA, new drugs will make their appearance on the market and patients will no longer suffer financially. Until then, it is necessary for pharmaceutical companies to price their drugs based on the idea of supply and demand. This produces the profit used to fund research. Price controls discourage innovation. If a price control were set in place, of course the price of prescription drugs would decrease. However, the development of new drugs decreases with it. Today’s generation would benefit from lower prices, while future generations would suffer from the loss of drug innovation.

Healthcare legislation in the United States has been a hot topic for many years now, and the introduction of the so-called "healthcare law has" only invigorated that. While it is important for a healthcare professional to understand the impact of the larger healthcare law, it is also important to know how other bills before Congress impact patients and the economy as a whole. One such bill under consideration by the United States Senate is S.27 designated that "Preserve Access to Affordable Generics" Act (this was previously designated S.369 (Policy and Medicine, 2011)). The goal of this paper is to examine this bill as to economic impact, equity, administrative resources, and the role of the nurse.

Through the years doctors’ and pharmaceutical companies have become greedy. Doctors diagnose patients, prescribe medications, and send them to pharmaceutical companies that charge high prices for medications that help maintain their well-being. Although over half of our elderly individuals with Social Security and Medicare benefits are already struggling to accommodate their ends. Therefore a reform of both Social Security and Medicare needs to take place before it is too late. Social Security and Medicare funding will be the most important problem that America will face in the coming decade.

The Affordable Care Act is an once-in-a time change to the U.S. social insurance system. It guarantees access to medicinal administrations for all Americans, rolling out new driving forces to improvement clinical practice with a specific end goal to develop better coordination and quality, gives specialists more information to enhance, clinicians and patients more information to make them more regard perceptive buyers, and changes the portion system to remunerate the regard. The Act and the medicinal services information development programs in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act empty various limits to pass on choice care, for instance, trivial administrative multifaceted nature, inaccessible clinical data, and lacking access to fundamental care and joined human services providers (Kocher, 2010).

In the business of drug production over the years, there have been astronomical gains in the technology of pharmaceutical drugs. More and more drugs are being made for diseases and viruses each day, and there are many more drugs still undergoing research and testing. These "miracle" drugs are expensive, however, and many Americans cannot afford these prices.

For almost a year now, prescription drugs continue to be one the pressing issues in healthcare reform. Drug pricing specifically, has made its way center stage as a result of numerous revenue-lifting actions from pharmaceutical companies, the most recent case being the arrest of Turing Pharmaceuticals’ CEO, Martin Shkreli. Shkreli was arrested on federal fraud charges a week before Christmas, but his infamy stems from his company’s price jack of Daraprim, an anti-parasite drug that is pivotal in the treatment of cancer and HIV patients. In at least 14 states, legislators have introduced “drug pricing transparency” bills, which have been designed to gather information from pharmaceutical companies about the cost to manufacture drugs.

However, I feel it is time for the U.S. government to regulate the cost of pharmaceuticals and medical care, possibly by utilizing diagnosis-related groups across all medical services and products. I feel to have a fair and equitable healthcare system everyone should have access to

Prescription drugs all around are very expensive, but without out them some of us would not be able to say we are alive. We can still see the price of these prescription drugs go through the roof as we speak. Although most of low-income workers can barely afford medicine and drugs, one way or another, we make it work because without it we would be dead. Although having insurance covers a lot of our medical health expenses, such as medical bills, prescription bills, hospital bills and things of this nature. As the cost of prescriptions keep going up, sometimes our insurance companies cannot cover the cost because they have hit their Cap of money able to spend. Some insurance companies have Cap for a person or a cap for a whole family it can be yearly or annually it just depends on the “deal” you worked out with your insurance provider. Most families, like my own make due to cover the cost of having insurance, yet we have to still be able to cover what remains of the prescription cost if we want to live. Money sometimes is very tight and meeting these necessary financial situations get tough.

To make health care coverage more affordable, the country must address the soaring cost of medical care that continues to increase at a dangerous rate. A greater focus is needed on the main drivers of medical cost growth: soaring prices for medical services, new costly prescription drugs and medical technologies, unhealthy lifestyles, and an outdated fee-for-service system.

The U.S. spending for healthcare has risen to astronomical heights leaving consumers and taxpayers to, yet again, pay more money for premiums and medication hikes. In 2000 average annual family premiums were $6,500 and by 2008 alone they almost doubled and by 2016 they have almost quadrupled (Forbes). It has become a monopolized borderline competition with less business environment. Many manufactures of medication state there is no set price to what the selling price will be for a medication. The selling price is determined by a supply and demand basis and what the insurance companies are willing to pay for it. Large providers are buying local locations to gain further leverage on the insurance providers. Often dropping them from their customer’s access if the prices are not paid. Very large insurance providers have more leverage for a better deal than smaller providers that most

One topic rising in popularity is the escalating prices of prescription medicines in the United States. There is no denying their importance; they are known for being associated with saving people lives, maintaining people’s health, and improving the lifestyles for consumers.