You’ve probably heard that prescription drug costs have risen dramatically in the past few years. Dean Health Plan wants you to understand why these costs are rising, what we are doing to help control costs and what you can do to save money out of your pocket.
Americans will spend $180 billion a year for prescriptions by the year 2003. The cost of a brand-name prescription drug has risen on average from approximately $40 in 1995 to $65 in 2000. That is more than a 60 percent increase. Brand-name drugs typically cost three times as much as generic drugs. Pharmaceutical expenses have become a major concern for health insurance companies and consumers. To understand the increase, we can look to these major trends:
- Our aging population requires more prescription drugs. This puts a heavy demand on the health care system. The greater the demand, the more acceptable it is to charge more for needed medications.
- Direct-to-consumer advertising campaigns increase the cost of prescriptions and raise the demand for the higher-cost brand-name drugs, even when less expensive and equally effective generic drugs are available.
What We Can Do
Dean Health Plan and its practitioners are working to help control prescription drug costs. Dean Health Plan uses a drug formulary to control costs. (A formulary is a list of prescription drugs that your health insurance covers. See the updated formulary in this issue.) We are also working to incorporate cost-saving strategies into our members’ benefit plans.
You can also work to control the cost of prescription drugs and at the same time lower the amount you pay out of your pocket for your prescriptions by following a few easy steps. Talk to your physician when he or she prescribes medications. Always ask if a generic drug or a lower-cost brand-name drug is available. Frequently review the list of prescription drugs you are taking with your doctor. Make sure your prescriptions are current and that one prescription does not adversely affect another.
Together, Dean Health Plan, its practitioners, your employer and you can all help control prescription costs and at the same time have access to the prescriptions you need. If you have any questions about your prescription drug benefits or Dean Health Plan’s prescription drug program, please call our Customer Service Department at 800-279-1301.
Should You Split Pills?
Pill splitting is another way you can control drug costs. Only certain medications are appropriate for pill splitting. Talk with your doctor or pharmacist before you split pills.
Medications that are priced similarly across dosage levels are the best candidates. These are generally expensive medications. However, the medications must be safe to split. The following medications are well suited for pill splitting: Arava, Celexa, Cozaar, Lipitor, Lotensin, Paxil, Remeron, Serzone, Vioxx, Zocor, Zoloft and Zyrtec. You could save money by pill splitting one or more of these medications.
How does pill splitting save you money? By pill splitting one or more of the medications listed above, you could halve your brand copayment.
If you would like to learn more about pill splitting, please talk with your physician.
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