Quote:
Originally Posted by kane
A lot of it is the pharma companies knowing how to game the system. I was diagnosed with asthma in 1979 when I was 8-years-old. The first inhaler I was prescribed was called Proventil. It is still on the market today. There are 3 or 4 different brands of albuterol based inhalers available today, but no generics. In the roughly 38 years since I was diagnosed, there have only been generics available for a few years because the manufacturers of these things are able to renew their exclusivity.
Another crazy thing is their pricing. The last time I bought an inhaler using cash was about a year ago (normally I have an insurance co-pay) and it was about $50. I asked about buying one with cash recently and the price was now $100. I asked the pharmacist why it doubled in price in the last year and he just shrugged and said, "Becuase they know you have no other real option."
kind of sad.
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I agree. While ACA may have helped some people, prices for many medications have skyrocketed. Part of the lack of choice your pharmacist is talking about is how many fewer people are cash patients.
No idea what the impact of new policies will be, but here is the Reuters article on the big pharma meeting
Trump pushes drugmakers for lower prices, more U.S. production | Reuters