Getty/Marko Geber
Americans pay up to three times more for prescription drugs than people in other countries.
The price of insulin and other medications have increased at a faster rate than inflation.
UnitedHealthcare has introduced a number of changes to help make life-saving drugs more affordable for those who need them.
For too many Americans, today’s prescription drug costs are prohibitively high. In the US, people pay up to three times more for prescription drugs than people in other countries, and one in four Americans who take prescription drugs have trouble affording their medications. These expenses present a hefty financial burden for patients.
Consider type 1 diabetes patients who take insulin. The price of this life-saving medication has increased at a faster rate than inflation over the past two decades.
More than 34 million Americans currently live with diabetes and 1.5 million are diagnosed with the condition every year. Because of the high cost of the drug, many diabetes patients cannot afford to pay for the treatment they need.
And insulin isn’t the only medication that has become prohibitively expensive in recent years. The prices of more than 1,200 prescription medications increased faster than inflation between July 2021 and July 2022, according to a recent report from the US Department of Health and Human Services. Over this short period of time — as inflation also caused price increases on many other goods, from gas to groceries — some drug prices jumped by more than $20,000.
“Rising retail prices from pharmaceutical manufacturers have real effects on patients,” said Dr. Anne Docimo, chief medical officer at UnitedHealthcare. “The drug prices set by pharma are too high for many people to afford, hampering access — and potentially adherence — to necessary medications.”
Fast Facts:
In the US, people pay 3X more for prescription drugs than people in other countries. One in four Americans who take prescription drugs have trouble affording their medications. 25% of patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes used less insulin than prescribed because of the medication’s high cost.
Addressing the drug-affordability epidemic
Some patients will skip or ration medication doses to make their medication go further. They may even stop filling their prescriptions to avoid paying more. These tactics are all too common among many Americans with diabetes. In a recent JAMA network study, researchers found that 25% of patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes used less insulin than prescribed because of the medication’s high cost.
While this strategy may improve a patient’s short-term financial health, it can put their mental and physical health at risk, increasing the potential for complications, hospitalizations, and other negative outcomes.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. There are steps being taken to improve affordability of medication. For starters, making drug prices more transparent to patients and providing them with advanced notice before those prices increase can help people plan ahead. Consumers can then set aside a specific amount of money for drug costs or add more cash to a health savings account or a flexible spending account. Additionally, making more drugs available in generic form and fast-tracking approval of biosimilar drugs — medications that are nearly identical to an existing medication manufactured by a different company — can provide consumers with cheaper treatment alternatives.
Eliminating out-of-pocket expenses for these critical, life-saving medications can help reduce the burden of medical costs on consumers and also encourage better medication adherence, reducing the risk of complications and expensive hospitalizations. Dr. Anne Docimo, chief medical officer at UnitedHealthcare
Reducing the financial burden by lowering out-of-pocket costs
UnitedHealthcare — one of the nation’s leading health-benefits providers — is introducing another change to help make important medications more affordable. The company is eliminating out-of-pocket costs for insulin and four other commonly used prescription drugs: epinephrine, glucagon, naloxone, and albuterol. This new benefit means that eligible members won’t be responsible for any copay or deductible costs for these medications, which help treat conditions like diabetes, severe allergic reactions, hypoglycemia, opioid overdoses, and acute asthma attacks.
“Eliminating out-of-pocket expenses for these critical, life-saving medications can help reduce the burden of medical costs on consumers and also encourage better medication adherence, reducing the risk of complications and expensive hospitalizations,” Docimo explained.
This new benefit will be available for members of UnitedHealthcare’s fully insured group plans starting January 1, 2023. Additionally, employers who pay for their own healthcare costs will be able to opt in to the program.
Docimo believes these changes will make healthcare more affordable and ensure people can access prescriptions for the medications they need.
“We are doing what we can to shield people from the prices set by pharmaceutical companies, and hope all stakeholders will also act to make prescription drugs more affordable,” Docimo added.
Reducing stress for consumers
For members like Kimberly Clark, who has diabetes, the new copay benefit offers much-needed relief.
“There have been times we have paid hundreds for insulin and begged physicians to give us a sample vial, when we were low on funds or out of insulin early in our marriage,” Kimberly’s husband, Randy Clark, recalled.
Even with insurance, the medication was costing them. News of the new benefit gives the Clarks more hope than ever.
“We always talked about, this is how it should be for everyone,” he said.
Click here to learn more about how UnitedHealthcare is making care more affordable.
This post was created by Insider Studios with UnitedHealthcare.