It’s not just gasoline. Inflation is slamming drugs too, changing the way to find the best deals.
We’ve reached a dubious health milestone: More than half of insured Americans are now taking at least one “maintenance” drug for a chronic condition, according to a recent health industry report. Meanwhile, the price of brand-name medications rose 2 1/2 times faster than the rate of inflation last year. Here’s the news you need to know to avoid the worst of the pain-no clandestine trips to Canada required.
Discounters have become the best inflation hedge
Wal-Mart, which in 2006 began selling 30-day supplies of generics for $4 each, just rolled out another plan perfect for people who take medicatiions daily and have a high co-pay: a 90-day supply of any of about 350 generics for just $10 (or your co-pay, whichever is less). Competitors like Target and Kroger quickly matched the price cuts. Some discounters may offer the drugs that others don’t, so visit their websites to see if your medicine is on their lists.
More employers are insisting you use mail order
Some employers now require workers who fill the same scrip more than three months in a row to order 90-day supplies from an approved mail-order company-or receive lower reimbursement than the pharmacy rate they’re used to. Some companies, for example, may raise your pharmacy co-pay by 25% after three months. So before you head to Wal-Mart, do the math.
Insurers are raising co-pays on brand-name drugs
Generics have always been cheaper than brand-names, but it’s gotten even costlier to insist on, say, Prozac rather than fluoxetine. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average co-pay for a 30-day “nonpreferred” brand is now $43, up from $28 in 2001. The average generic co-pay is just $11, so ask your doctor to prescribe the generic equivalent if one exists (it does more than 75% of the time).
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