Capping Co-Pays Doesn ’t Lower Drug Costs

By DEVON HERRICK Politicians are concerned about your drug costs. Unfortunately, their proposals could actually raise drug prices and force you to pay more, albeit indirectly. For instance, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton proposes to cap your prescription drug co-pays at no more than $250 per month. Rising drug costs are now a political issue because the number of diseases and conditions that can be treated using drug therapy has grown tremendously over the past 25 years. Arguably, one of the main reasons patients visit their doctors is to obtain or renew prescriptions. When they visit their doctors’ offices, Americans leave with a prescription in hand about three-fourths of the time. This is hardly a travesty; and few patients are drowning under the cost of prescriptions drugs. Most prescription costs are paid for by prescription drug plans sponsored by insurers and health plans. Insurers and health plans use multiple techniques to make drugs affordable. One of the ways employers, insurers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) hold down costs is through drug formularies with multiple tiers. The purpose of tiered formularies is to steer enrollees to lower-cost alternatives when appropriate, using differing levels of cost-sharing and co-pays. Drug plans typically encourage generic use by requiring little if any cost-sharing when a generic drug is dispensed. Prescriptions are dispensed in generic form about 88 percent of the time. Generic drugs are cheap compared to bra...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs