Prescription Drug Prices Make Affordable Coverage Tougher to FindMay, 2007
As the eyes of the nation are finally focusing on outrageous
health insurance costs, consumers are beginning to see how prescription drug prices are eating into their coverage.
All over the news are angry calls for lowered costs and accountability; at the
Edmontonsun.com we hear that "prescription drugs are the fastest-growing component of health spending, second only in total cost to hospitals. At $20 billion annually (2005 figures), we spend more on drugs than we do doctors."
Others go on about how pharmaceutical companies target their audiences and doctors, convincing us to take drugs for diseases we think we have, or for treatments that could be better handled by lifestyle changes.
Generic drugs pose one answer to prescription drug prices; health insurance costs drop dramatically when coverage specifies the use of generics, many of whom are as effective as their brand-name counterparts.
So why aren't we subsidizing more of our prescription drug prices? Often the best medicines take too long to become generics, leaving patients who really need those drugs to struggle with costs. At the same time, direct-to-consumer advertising leads many people to believe that they really
need a certain drug.
Whether it's kids with ADHD, adults with depression, or seniors struggling against Alzheimer's, we are a nation dependent on our medicines, at the mercy of prescription drug prices, and suffering for it through health insurance costs.
Facts on:
Health Insurance Costs
Did you know...
Prescription drugs are the fastest-growing component of health spending?
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There has been much talk lately of subsidizing even more costs related to medications and coverage, as well as regulation of the pharmaceutical companies. Whether it's one or the other, it will be nice to see medical coverage prices come down for the first time in decades.
Until then, it's most advisable for consumers to take good care of themselves, shop around aggressively for the best health insurance plan they can afford, and rely on generic drugs whenever possible.
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