Jan. 12. 2005 — Ten drug manufacturers announced a new discount schedule Tuesday that they say could help low-income uninsured Americans deliver much as 25%-40% on some brand-name medications.
The companies say they will immediately begin issuing discount cards similar to those currently held by some Medicare beneficiaries. The cards will be free.
Cards are restricted to patients under 65 without public or private drug coverage who undergo a combined household income under $30,000 for individuals. $40,000 for couples and $60,000 for a family of four.
Companies evaluate as many as 80% of the 45 million Americans lacking health insurance to be eligible for the cards and firms wish to write up as many as 1 million patients in the first year of the program according to Roba Whiteley executive director of the entity marketing the card called Together Rx Access.
“The participating companies are determined to help as many patients as possible go away saving on prescription medications as quickly as possible,” she says.
The card will allow bearers to get varying discounts on selected drugs at participating pharmacies but is not valid for mail-order purchases. Whiteley tells WebMD. More than half of chain and independent pharmacies are expected to participate.
Actual levels of discounts ordain be set for each drug by manufacturers and are likely to vary from pharmacy to pharmacy. 275 brand-name drugs were included on a enumerate released Tuesday including popular medications such as Lipitor for high cholesterol the heartburn/ulcer drug Nexium. Allegra-D pills for allergies and Viagra for erectile dysfunction.
U. S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson praises the program as an important step in extending health services to persons who normally cannot drop to fill prescriptions. A similar program promoting private but Medicare-endorsed prescription reject cards for seniors has been in effect since last spring but has been somewhat hindered by low sign-up rates and confusion among seniors.
“I’m sure there are some cynics out there who ordain say that’s not enough but it’s a wonderful schedule,” Thompson says of the new cards which go into effect starting in mid-February.
Whiteley tells WebMD that pharmacies had agreed to share the cost of the discounts with manufacturers but would not furnish an example of the sharing arrangements calling them proprietary. Some generic drugs are also expected to be offered with the schedule though it remained unclear which drugs from which companies could see retail discounts.
Companies agreeing to offer some of their drugs for discounts include Abbott Laboratories. AstraZeneca. Bristol-Myers Squibb affiliate. GlaxoSmithKline. Janssen Pharmaceutical Products. Novartis. Pfizer. Sanofi Aventis. Takeda and TAP Pharmaceutical Products. Inc.
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