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More Studies Find More Savings if Seniors Use
Generic Drugs
Consumer Reports and Medicare highlight potential
savings in drug program
March 3, 2006 Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs
yesterday issued a new report on the significant savings available to
senior citizens in the Medicare prescription drug program by switching
to generic drugs. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also
released a report yesterday that further emphasizes the money seniors
can save by using generic drugs. The report by KaiserNet.org also notes
that 20 percent of pharmacists in North Dakota had to borrow money to
cover expenses related to problems with the start of the Medicare drug
program.
 Medicare|
Generic Drugs Can Save Money Under Rx
Benefit, Studies Say
Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in the prescription
drug benefit can significantly reduce their medication costs by
switching from brand name treatments to generic drugs or lower-cost
therapeutic equivalents, according to two separate studies released on
Thursday by
Consumers Union and
CMS,
CQ HealthBeat reports.
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Related Stories |
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Consumer Reports Analysis
Medicare, Taxpayers Could Save $8.2 Billion a Year
if Seniors Prescribed Generics for Cholesterol Reduction
Statins are widely prescribed; two brands will become
available as generics this year
Jan.
12, 2006 - Potential savings of $8.2 billion could be achieved in 2007
if Medicare beneficiaries were prescribed effective, lower-cost generic
statins to reduce cholesterol instead of higher-priced brands, according
to a new analysis by Consumers Union and Consumer Reports Best Buy
Drugs. The savings would accrue to taxpayers, Medicare drugs plans, and
beneficiaries themselves.
Read
more...
Some Seniors Could Save $1,300 a Year by Taking
Effective, Lower-Cost Cholesterol Drug - Lovastatin
Lovastatin and Lipitor are
Chosen Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs
Dec. 10, 2004
Millions of senior citizens and other consumers who take or need statins to moderately lower
their cholesterol could save up to $3.50 a day by considering the only
generic version available lovastatin, the Consumer Reports Best Buy
Drugs project has found.
More...
Read more
on
Medicare Drug Program |
|
The Consumers Union study, which was prepared by
Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs, examines prices for medications in
five common treatment areas -- high cholesterol, high blood pressure,
post-heart attack care, arthritis pain and depression -- under Medicare
drug plans in Arizona, California, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota and
Pennsylvania.
The study finds that beneficiaries taking five
drugs who switched from brand name drugs to lower-cost alternatives
could save between $2,300 and $5,000 annually. According to the study,
the savings could be enough to prevent beneficiaries from reaching the
so-called "doughnut hole," the coverage gap under which Medicare
beneficiaries are responsible for annual drug costs between $2,250 and
$5,100.
In addition, the study finds that beneficiaries who
switched just one brand name medication to a lower-cost treatment could
save between $350 to $800 annually. The study also says that Medicare
could save about $8 billion annually beginning in 2007 if all
beneficiaries taking cholesterol-lowering statins switched from brand
names medications to lower-cost treatments.
CMS Study
The CMS study finds that beneficiaries enrolled in mid-priced drug plans
could reduce their drug costs by as much as 59% by switching from brand
name drugs to generics, while beneficiaries in the lowest-priced plans
could reduce drug costs by as much as 83% by switching from brand-names
to generics and brand-name therapeutic equivalents.
Purchasing drugs by mail can produce further
savings, according to the study. In addition, the study finds that
beneficiaries enrolled in the lowest-priced drug plan in their area save
an average of nearly 60% compared with their medication costs before
obtaining drug coverage.
According to the study, competition among Medicare
drug plans has reduced costs to the point that prices in some cases are
lower than those negotiated by insurance companies and pharmacy benefit
managers for the non-Medicare population.
Comments
Gail Shearer, director of Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs, said in a
news release, "It's important that seniors know they can significantly
stretch their prescription drug dollars under Medicare if they first
consider cost-effective medicines."
Ron Pollack, executive director of
Families USA, said drug costs could be further reduced if the
federal government negotiated prices with pharmaceutical companies. "[T]here's
growing sentiment to make that kind of a change" to the Medicare drug
benefit, Pollack said, adding, "I think this is going to receive serious
consideration" (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 3/2).
 The
Consumers Union report is available
online. Note: You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the report.
North Dakota Pharmacist Survey
In related news, a survey by the
North Dakota Pharmacists Association found that nearly one in five
pharmacists borrowed money to cover expenses related to problems with
the start of the Medicare drug benefit, the
Fargo Forum reports.
State Insurance Commissioner Jim Poolman requested
the survey after hearing anecdotal reports that pharmacists had
experienced problems with the launch of the benefit. The survey received
responses from 52 pharmacists, or about 30% of the state's pharmacist
population. It finds that:
● For the first month of the drug benefit,
pharmacists reported an average of 115 rejected claims, with financial
liability ranging from $1,000 to $25,000.
● 61% of pharmacists reported that beneficiaries have encountered
changes in their drug plan formularies since enrolling, with two-thirds
of changes reported as negative for the beneficiary.
● 77% of pharmacists said beneficiaries at their pharmacies learned
their prescriptions were not fully covered after they had enrolled in a
plan.
● Pharmacists were on hold on drug plan phone lines for an average of
two hours, with wait times ranging from 30 minutes to six hours.
Poolman said, "The pharmacists ... are filling the
[prescriptions] in the hope they'll get paid later. They have been on
the front lines taking care of consumers" (Springer, Fargo Forum, 3/2).
Opinion Piece
Problems experienced by low-income Medicare beneficiaries during the
start of the drug benefit are an example of how "our country is being
run by people who assume that things will turn out the way they want,"
columnist Paul Krugman writes in a New York Times opinion piece.
According to Krugman, problems with the drug
benefit are similar to problems the Bush administration has had with
"Iraqi insurgents [and] hurricanes." He says, "[I]n each case experts
warned about the impending disaster," and in each case they "were told
to shut up" by administration officials.
"If good luck is what happens when preparation
meets opportunity, bad luck is what happens when lack of preparation
meets a challenge," Krugman writes, concluding, "And our leaders, who
think they can govern through a mix of wishful thinking and
intimidation, are never, ever prepared" (Krugman, New York Times, 3/3).
"Reprinted with
permission from kaisernetwork.org You can view the entire
Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, and sign up
for email delivery at
www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser
Daily Health Policy Report is published for
kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family
Foundation. © 2006 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation.
All rights reserved.
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