AlwaysWrite
Addicted Member
[NOTE: This is probably only one example of massive drug-cost ripoffs that are taking place on a regular basis in this country. Written by a local doctor, It appeared in a Letter To The Editor a few days ago in the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune. Read what he says, and I'm sure you'll agree that the situation is ridiculous.]
I recently received an email from my health insurer, UnitedHealthcare, stating that they had an urgent message for me that required a personal response. I called and was asked whether I wanted one of my prescriptions filled that would have a $1,000 co-pay!
I had bought the best pharmacy insurance that I could find, but I am now in the Medicare “Coverage Gap,” also known as the “Doughnut Hole.” Here your prescriptions cost you approximately 45 percent of the insurer’s cost for the medication. UnitedHealthCare informed me that their cost for it was over $3,000.
By the way, this prescription is for only four single-dose vials, which is the total amount my plan will allow per month. This medication has been around for over 30 years and is taken by millions of people.
As a physician, my practice has accounts with drug companies for the medications that we keep in our office. I checked with one of these companies and found the same medication at a price of $53 for five vials!
So, UnitedHealthcare, with their enormous buying power, wants me to believe that the lowest price they were able to negotiate with the manufacturer was over $3,000 — for a medication that my office can get for $53! I assumed there must have been a clerical error. A call to UHC’s Appeals and Grievance Department revealed that, in fact, the numbers were correct.
I tried to find the right person to talk to but kept getting a lecture about how drug plans work and that, “Gee, drug prices have just gotten sky high lately.”
Ya think? Who’s making the profit?
Donald Slevin, M.D.
I recently received an email from my health insurer, UnitedHealthcare, stating that they had an urgent message for me that required a personal response. I called and was asked whether I wanted one of my prescriptions filled that would have a $1,000 co-pay!
I had bought the best pharmacy insurance that I could find, but I am now in the Medicare “Coverage Gap,” also known as the “Doughnut Hole.” Here your prescriptions cost you approximately 45 percent of the insurer’s cost for the medication. UnitedHealthCare informed me that their cost for it was over $3,000.
By the way, this prescription is for only four single-dose vials, which is the total amount my plan will allow per month. This medication has been around for over 30 years and is taken by millions of people.
As a physician, my practice has accounts with drug companies for the medications that we keep in our office. I checked with one of these companies and found the same medication at a price of $53 for five vials!
So, UnitedHealthcare, with their enormous buying power, wants me to believe that the lowest price they were able to negotiate with the manufacturer was over $3,000 — for a medication that my office can get for $53! I assumed there must have been a clerical error. A call to UHC’s Appeals and Grievance Department revealed that, in fact, the numbers were correct.
I tried to find the right person to talk to but kept getting a lecture about how drug plans work and that, “Gee, drug prices have just gotten sky high lately.”
Ya think? Who’s making the profit?
Donald Slevin, M.D.