|
Help with the Cost of Prescription Drugs
The cost of prescription drugs is a concern to consumers and health care
professionals. Not all health care plans offer prescription coverage, and to Long Islanders who have little or no health care coverage, the
cost of drugs is often beyond their reach. A recent Harris poll indicated that
up to 40% of low-income adults, when forced to choose between paying bills and
taking needed medications, chose not to take their medications at all.
I and my colleagues led the way in creating the New York State EPIC
program, the best drug
program for seniors in the nation, as we saw a healthcare policy stalemate evolve
in Washington. In addition to
the NY EPIC program, I want to reference other possibilities for savings. If
you have not
considered enrolling in EPIC, then click onto its website and explore the
eligibility
requirements and its benefits:
EPIC
click
here
Price Comparison
The Internet offers several avenues for information about prices for drugs
and for the purchase of drugs. One useful tool
is the price comparison web site sponsored by NY Attorney
General Spitzer. One can enter the name of the drug sought to be
purchased, the geographic area (county, city, zip code) and have
a survey of prices turn up on the screen.
While limitations exist (timeliness, comparison to mail order
pharmacies, no guarantee the price will remain as posted), this
site is useful for New Yorkers to check on drug prices.
New York State Attorney General's Office
Prescription Drug Price
Website.
Canadian Ordering
While many constituents, and many NY State residents I
met during the Senate Medicaid
Taskforce Roundtables throughout NY, have had a positive experience in
purchasing
drugs from Canada, either in person or over the internet, I face, as an
individual
Senator, and the State Government faces as an entity, the difficulty of
recommending
either an individual site, an individual vendor, or an individual not-for-profit
group
as a vehicle or channel to Canadian purchasing. That's because of the
necessity
of testing, verification, credentialing and oversight being the prerequisites to
such
a program. The State government has the additional hurdle of meeting the
procedures for re-importation set forth in Federal law (an avenue the Senate
Taskforce
recommends pursuing). I continue to look for a specific site to recommend
and would call your attention to the cautions and sites which the NY STATEWIDE
Senior Action Council
sets forth on their web site.
Drug Company Discount Programs
[NOTE: I initiated the following discussion on this website when no EPIC and
Medicare
part D had been passed. Even ordering from Canada was then a little used
option. The following material has been left up for the people who might be able to take advantage of one or more
discount plans. I would
ask you read this web site (NPR:
Prescription Drug Discounts) which is an interview on NPR with Tricia Neuman of the Kaiser Family Foundation, discussing the
prescription
drug discount programs and some of their characteristics. ]
[SECOND NOTE. After Medicare Part D was passed most of these programs were ended
or suspended due to rulings by the Federal Department of CMS questioning there legality. In April 2006, CMS clarified the programs were legal]
The pharmaceutical industry has taken notice of the reaction to high drug
prices and created programs
to help those in need. Companies such as Pfizer and Glaxo Smith Kline have
money-saving programs especially for seniors in addition to programs for
low-income adults.
Most of these programs require the services of a health care advocate
(usually your doctor) to attest to your eligibility and file the paperwork on
your behalf. When you are visiting the doctor, make sure to ask him or her if
the drug is available through a Patient Assistance Program. To be eligible for
most of these programs, you must show a financial and medical need, and have no
access to another prescription drug plan.
NOTE
If you are a senior citizen already enrolled in New York State's EPIC
program, you will most likely not be eligible for these programs. However, if you are using
the product(s) of one particular pharmaceutical company, it may be more
cost-efficient for you to use the pharmaceutical company's specific cost-savings
initiative rather than be enrolled in EPIC. [Also, look also into the timing of your
joining each program]
The trade association of the drug manufacturers has a specific page on its web
site listing a link to each company offering a discount program; I list that
page here as a shortcut to you; given the large number of companies and the different
approaches taken
I cannot guarantee each link will work or will lead to the correct
information for that company, or even if the company will continue to offer the program.
The link is
http://www.phrma.org/searchcures/dpdpap/
There is a commercial web site, probably
assisted by the pharmaceutical companies themselves, which has a comprehensive
list of these programs, as well as a directory of sources of drugs, generic and
brand. I list it here, not with any endorsement, but because it
appears to be uniquely useful. [Comments and other sources are
welcome.] It is http://www.destinationrx.com
|
