Costs to treat common ailments a prescription for painA month's worth of Glumetza diabetes pills cost Marge Meffert $746 last April. Then the price began skyrocketing --- to $6,714.
It wasn't an isolated surge. The price of Lantus insulin rose 34% in a year. A widely used antibiotic called doxycycline jumped from $20 to $1,849 in six months. And a heart-rhythm drug called Isuprel costs six times what it used to: $1,300 a vial.
While the cost of cancer and HIV medicines tend to grab headlines, vaulting drug prices increasingly include medicines for more common conditions afflicting millions.
Spending was driven almost exclusively by price hikes, not increased use. Use of diabetes drug Lantus, for example, rose 0.5% while the price rose 34%, overall, use of diabetes drugs rose less than 2%, while prices rose 16%. Use of drugs for mental and neurological disorders dropped 0.5% as prices rose nearly 10%.
Patient pain continues
Recent surveys by the wellness company HealthMine found that a third of consumers with diabetes or pre-diabetes, and a third of people living with heart disease risk, struggle to afford drug treatments. A Kaiser Health tracking poll last summer suggests patients blame drug makers, finding that 72% of Americans consider drug costs unreasonable and 74% feel drug companies put profits before people.
USA Today February 1st, 2016http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/02/01/costs-treat-common-ailments-prescription-pain/79306102/ You are what you invest in your health, NOT what your insurance covers. This is not the time to get behind on your health. Insurance premiums are rising and the cost of medications are going up every year. Millions of employers lean even more heavily on part-time and temporary workers instead of full time due to these rising health care costs. For those who choose not to participate in the "Affordable healthcare act," fines will continue to increase. So how exactly do you survive Obamacare? Start taking care of yourself. Without your health, you have nothing and the sooner you realize that, the better off you will be. And if you think the cost of eating healthy is expensive, you haven't checked the price of cancer lately.
Dr. J
