Tag: drug prices

If Medicare is allowed to set drug prices, the world could end and other fairy tales.

Posted on by bill
If Medicare is allowed to set drug prices, the world could end and other fairy tales. The lobbying group PhRMA is warning of dire consequences if Medicare can negotiate drug prices according to Medpage Today, a popular website read by doctors and others involved in health care and health care decision making. The USA has the highest drug prices in the world partly due to Medicare’s policy of not negotiating drug prices.  The Medicare drug plan does not allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices at all.   Conversely, the VA system does and they pay much lower prices than Medicare. Instead Read More »

Drug prices continue to rise; Consumer Reports weighs in with some great advice uncovers why we pay so much.

Posted on by bill
Drug prices continue to rise; Consumer Reports weighs in with some great advice uncovers why we pay so much. Anyone who takes prescription drugs in the United States knows that they are expensive.  A number of years ago I had to buy a creme that the dermatologist prescribed and was amazed at how expensive the small vial of creme was.   Like many of you, I asked for drug samples and the problem resolved without having to renew the prescription a second time. Drug prices continue to rise much faster than the rate of inflation. Diabetics cannot live without insulin and Read More »

A new idea by the Trump administration to reduce drug prices by eliminating middlemen.

Posted on by bill
A new idea by the Trump administration to reduce drug prices by eliminating middlemen Recently, both my daughter and my spouse needed to purchase medications that their doctors recommended for them. Our high deductible HSA plan includes drugs, but we need to reach the deductible first before the plan pays anything. One drug was an antibiotic and was quoted in generic form at over 200 dollars for the dose.   When I asked about the price, I was told that the brand name drug was even more expensive.  The other medication was more expensive for the generic than it was Read More »

The spiraling cost of drugs and why it continues to happen, according to the NY Times

Posted on by bill
  The spiraling cost of drugs and why it continues to happen, according to the NY Times The prices of prescription drugs has never been higher in the United States, and the prices of both name brand and generic medicines continue to increase as some companies buy others, and rebrand drugs as a strategy to raise the price and have us, the consumer pay the price of their acquisition while they profit from their strategy. The most notable in the news today is Milan, with their EpiPen which was purchased in 2007 and retailed for $57 per injector.   The Epinephrine Read More »

Why we pay more for drugs than any other developed country according to the Wall Street Journal.

Posted on by bill
Why we pay more for drugs than any other developed country according to the Wall Street Journal. Unless you have not been paying attention, the media has been reporting about the rise in drug prices due to consolidation of companies (mega mergers), generic drugs rising four fold over the past several years and companies buying the patent rights to produce drugs, while raising the cost to consumers in the USA rediculously. The amount spent on television advertising alone by big pharma has been reported to outstrip the amount spend in research and development of new drugs.  Many newer and more Read More »