Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Is Health Care Recesion Proof?


Americans are abandoning their prescriptions at pharmacies rather than pay higher prices for them, according to a recent analysis of 80 million pharmacy claims conducted by Wolters Kluwer Pharma Solutions. This was reported in the Wall Street Journal.

Wen I started my practice as a 'cold start' 2 years ago (smack bang at the start of this downhill trend!) many friends and relatives assured me that health care is pretty much recession proof. The new data shows that many folks are making some very tough decisions.

The data showed that this phenomenon increased by 55% during the second quarter of 2010, compared to 2006 statistics. Conventional wisdom has indicated that prescription medicines were not susceptible to economic downturns since sick people must take medication in order recover. This new evidence, however, suggests that people are deciding whether to pick up prescriptions based on price.

The average co-pays for brand-name drugs such as cholesterol fighter Lipitor rose to $28 a prescription this year, an 87% jump from 2000, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Some co-pays can be as high as $100!

The article quotes Anne Peters, director of the University of Southern California's Clinical Diabetes Program. She notes that patients lost control of their blood-sugar levels after either abandoning Lantus insulin prescriptions or spacing out its use because of the expense, she said.

In response, Dr. Peters is prescribing a less-expensive insulin sold at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. A 10ml vial of Lantus costs $111.88 on drugstore.com, while Wal-Mart charges $24.88 for the same size vial of Humulin ReliOn insulin.

Now, this also brings into question the role Walmart plays in the healthcare field. A very common gripe of private practices like mine is the dispensing of contact lenses at Walmart. The big box retail is able to sell Acuvue2 at a price that is practically unmatched by anyone else. Frequently I prescribe an alternative based on examination findings. Yet, the patient calls back to request I write for Acuvue2 as it is far less expensive! I suppose this is another story for another day!

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