Who Really Benefits From Pharma Patient Assistance Programs?

Just about any time we mention the price of medications for multiple sclerosis (MS), as we did in a post last week, many people comment that they rely on so-called patient assistance programs from drug manufacturers to help pay for their meds. While each pharma-sponsored patient assistance program differs in its specifics, the basic way such programs work is to help cover some (or most, or sometimes even all) of the patient’s copayment (as determined by their health insurance plan) for the company’s drug. MS drug prices being what they are, it’s no wonder that most people have to rely on some form of financial assistance. For that reason, I often read of people with multiple sclerosis lauding, thanking, and praising the companies for offering financial assistance so they can stay on the company’s medication. While I am happy there is some method by which my MS brothers and sisters can remain compliant with their doctors’ prescriptions for these helpful medications, I see the programs far less benevolently. I see financial assistance programs from pharma as a Band-Aid — and it’s a dirty, infected Band-Aid at that. The Arithmetic Behind Patient Assistance Programs Let’s take a look at the math of one of these programs. We’ll say that MS disease-modifying therapy “drug X” has a wholesale price of $5,000 per month. (I’m not basing this on any one medication, so I’m not calling out any single manufacturer or insurance plan.) Insurance company “One” n...
Source: Life with MS - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: multiple sclerosis awareness MS treatment Multiple Sclerosis Thesaurus trevis gleason Source Type: blogs