|
|
|
|
||
|
||
|
|
||
| SEARCH | SUBSCRIBE | ||
 |
Consumers Can Reduce Costs of Drugs
As prescription drug prices continue to climb, consumers looking for ways to cut their costs may find that a little savvy can yield big savings. Consumers spent 17 percent more on prescriptions in 2001 over the previous year, partly because doctors are prescribing more of the latest and more expensive brands. The cost of drugs also has risen. But it is possible for patients, particularly the chronically ill and those on maintenance medications, to find ways around paying the $71 average charge for a brand name prescription. ``I think the key to reining in these out-of-control drug costs is for consumers to get smart about purchasing,'' said Nancy Chochley, president of the National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation. ``But it does take elbow grease.'' In 2001, consumers spent almost $155 billion on drugs. Drug prices also rose 10.1 percent since 2000 to an average of $49.94 per prescription in 2002. The average price of the 50 most popular drugs rose to $71.56 per prescription. Other than asking for generics or resorting to purchasing pharmaceuticals in other countries, consumers can take steps to purchase drugs at less cost in their own neighborhoods. Among them: - Get to know your pharmacist. Ask for the best rate on the drug. The pharmacist also can recommend different drugs that work just as well and may then be willing to call your doctor and ask if the cheaper drug could be prescribed instead. - Buy a pill cutter. Ira Katz, owner of the Little Five Points Pharmacy in Atlanta, recommends asking physicians for higher doses, then cutting them in half. For example, Zoloft, a popular antidepressant, sells for $80 for a month's supply of 50 milligram tablets. But 15 of the 100 milligram tablets - which then could be cut in half to make a 30-day supply - cost only $45. Some drug companies have caught on to this trick and are designing rounded tablets that are hard to cut. Check with your pharmacist about the composition of your medication and if it can be cut. - Ask your physician for a cheaper drug or generic. This is especially important for patients who take high-price antibiotics, acid reflux medications, anti-inflammatory medications and blood pressure medicine. For example, penicillin is drastically cheaper at $6.50 for a 10-day supply than the more recent antibiotics Augmentin at $125.15 or Cipro at $93. ``Ask the question, do I really need to take this drug,'' said Dr. Jay Kulkin, a physician and health care consultant who specializes in women's health. ``Most people will take whatever their doctor recommends. Ask questions like, 'Is there an over-the-counter alternative for me?' '' - Ask for samples. Doctors often are given generous supplies of the newest medications to promote their use. Before spending a lot on a prescription you don't know will work, ask for samples. - Use coupons. If you take a maintenance drug, read up about it on the company's Web site. Manufacturers sometimes will ask you to fill out a questionnaire in exchange for coupons or a trial sample. Also, clip coupons in newspapers or magazines. - Check online. CVS, Eckerd and Walgreens, for example, each have Web sites where you can purchase medications online. Some have delivery charges. But online drug prices are often cheaper than at stores. At Eckerd.com, for example, a 30-day supply of Claritin, an allergy medication, is listed as $72.82. At an Eckerd store in Conyers, the store price for the same prescription is $91.19. At CVS.com, Lipitor, a cholesterol drug, was listed as $63.59 for a month's supply. At a CVS store, the price was $72.59. Most Web sites list medications and their prices. - Use your insurance card. Employees of large companies often have partial coverage of prescription drugs. But few workers know they can get a discount on the prescription cost as well if they ask for it and present the insurance card to their pharmacists. Insurance companies negotiate for discount prices on certain drugs. Rising drug costs are the culprit behind rising health insurance premiums, which rose an average 11.2 percent in 2001 and are expected to spike another 12.7 percent in 2002. Helping your insurance company save money may stem hikes in premiums. - Find out about formularies. They are an approved list of drugs an insurance company will cover for its enrollees. Call your insurance company or ask your employee benefits office how to find out the insurance plan's formulary. Then, choose drugs on that preferred list. The preferred drugs, which usually are earlier versions of the newest medications or are generics, often have a lower co-payment. Newer drugs on the market may not be covered or have a high co-payment, such as $35. - Use mail-order programs when available. Some insurance plans encourage employees to buy maintenance medications for 90 days at a time through a discounted mail-order program. The medications are shipped promptly and are packaged to protect against extreme temperatures. The co-payment for a 90-day supply is cheaper than paying a co-payment every month when renewing a prescription at a pharmacy. - Utilize senior citizen discounts. The nation's major drug companies have unveiled new discount drug cards for low-income seniors in the past few months. Seven drug companies (GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis SA, Abbott Laboratories, Aventis SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca PLC) are jointly issuing a prescription card allowing these seniors to get discounts from 20 to 40 percent on medications. Pfizer Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co. have their own discount programs whereby a patient pays a small co-pay for a month's supply of their medications. Each company's program can be found online. Seniors also should ask stores if they give a seniors discount.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Action on Aging distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
|
