RubySlippers
01-18-2005, 05:43 PM
Hello all :)
I was watching the Today Show last week and they had a very short segment about a new prescription benefit card that many of the major pharmecutical companies are participating in. It is for low income folks and is apparently NOT a third party card like some you see advertised on TV.
They said it was going to be provided by the pharma companies themselves. I heard them say something about trying to compete with the lower Canadian drug prices. It doesn't cover all meds, but the reporter said it did cover many. Unfortunately I wasn't paying close attention at first so I didn't get much more info....
Has anyone heard any details on this?
Thanks
Angela
I was watching the Today Show last week and they had a very short segment about a new prescription benefit card that many of the major pharmecutical companies are participating in. It is for low income folks and is apparently NOT a third party card like some you see advertised on TV.
They said it was going to be provided by the pharma companies themselves. I heard them say something about trying to compete with the lower Canadian drug prices. It doesn't cover all meds, but the reporter said it did cover many. Unfortunately I wasn't paying close attention at first so I didn't get much more info....
Has anyone heard any details on this?
Thanks
Angela
Sponsor
wirry1422
01-18-2005, 06:44 PM
Yes, I have. But its only a temporary program for people on medicare, until 2006, when those on medicare will be able to enroll in the new medicare prescription drug benefit program, if they choose to pay the premium, deductible and copayments.
Shoreline
01-18-2005, 06:48 PM
10 of the major pharma companies got together and made a step forward. They are offering up to a 25%-40% discount on selected meds for those that don't have prescription benefits. Sorry not feleling up to a search right now unless it's in one of my newsletters from firece biotech. , I'll check,
Dave
Pharma companies offering uninsured hefty discounts
Ten big pharma companies have banded together to offer a drug discount card covering 275 prescription drugs for the country's 45 million uninsured. Low-income citizens under 65 will be able to buy drugs on the list at a discount of 25 percent to 40 percent. For the pharmaceutical industry, it is a chance to address growing public anger at the steep cost of drugs in the US while continuing to oppose reimportation from Canada.
While consumer groups cheered the move, most were also quick to say that a discount card was not an effective alternative to universal health coverage in the US. Outgoing Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson was also on hand at the announcement, congratulating the companies for the move. "I'm sure there are some cynics out there who will say that this is not enough," Thompson said. "But it's an exciting opportunity to provide more people with access to prescription medicines."
- read this article from The New York Times
Dave
Pharma companies offering uninsured hefty discounts
Ten big pharma companies have banded together to offer a drug discount card covering 275 prescription drugs for the country's 45 million uninsured. Low-income citizens under 65 will be able to buy drugs on the list at a discount of 25 percent to 40 percent. For the pharmaceutical industry, it is a chance to address growing public anger at the steep cost of drugs in the US while continuing to oppose reimportation from Canada.
While consumer groups cheered the move, most were also quick to say that a discount card was not an effective alternative to universal health coverage in the US. Outgoing Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson was also on hand at the announcement, congratulating the companies for the move. "I'm sure there are some cynics out there who will say that this is not enough," Thompson said. "But it's an exciting opportunity to provide more people with access to prescription medicines."
- read this article from The New York Times