The High Cost of Medications

Every day I am shocked by the price of medications. Many patients think it’s a little silly when their $10 co-pay receipt states that they ‘saved’ $163 dollars; what they don’t realize is that patients without insurance actually need to pay the full freight of $173. The very high price might be appropriate for a new medication since the pharmaceutical company should be able to recoup that research and development costs. However, due to changes in the health care law many of the old medications that used to be cheaper than Tylenol now carry breath-taking price tags.

I spoke to a pharmacist about this. His belief is that since everyone will soon need to carry insurance that covers medication, the manufacturers are increasing prices. Unfortunately, patients who carry the new high deductible health insurance plans will be paying the inflated costs out of pocket. A round of antibiotics that a couple of years ago cost less than $25 can now sent one back by more than $250.  An excellent arthritis gel that is available over the counter for less than 10 euros in France is $150 per tube here.

One of my patients is not sure that she will have her cataract operation. Medicare will pay for the procedure but on her fixed income she doesn’t have several hundred dollars for the necessary eyedrops. I suggested that she ask her children for an early Christmas gift. This might solve her problem this time. But what about the next time?