The following steps can be undertaken by the federal government to ease the burden of increased prescription drugs for the uninsured. 1. Create drug management guidelines to educate physicians and consumers about effective therapeutic alternatives to costly brand drugs and the safe and effective use of generics. The knowledge that a drug is safe and effective is not enough, if costs are manifold than generics for the same condition, it is imperative that its effectiveness be investigated. 2.
Launch a drug-purchasing program that makes drugs available to all people on Medicare and others without drug coverage and the uninsured with annual incomes up to 300 percent of poverty (less than $26,600). This would give the uninsured the opportunity to make use of prescription drugs to manage their health care without the added cost. 3. Providing consumers with immediate price relief by legalizing the importation of lower priced prescription drugs from Canada and other countries with drug regulatory systems similar to ours as a stopgap measure until comprehensive reform passes.
Select Criteria The criteria used to evaluate the policy outcomes would be the cost of the alternatives, both to the federal government, pharmaceutical companies and the consumers. It would tell us if the pursued alternative would be more profitable to all parties concerned than what is presently occurring. The second criteria would be political feasibility, will the alternative be politically Increasing prescription drug cost and how it affects the healthcare of millions of American’s daily Page #6 doable, is it something that can be readily planned and implemented or will the technicalities and political process drown it out before it can reap results.
The third criteria is administrative feasibility, this concerns about the implantation of the alternative, who will be responsible for its implementation and monitoring, will the agencies concerned be appropriate and possess necessary knowledge to implement the alternatives, the last would be population benefit, how will the alternative answer the need of the general public especially the uninsured?
Project the outcomes 1. Create drug management guidelines to educate physicians and consumers about effective therapeutic alternatives to costly brand drugs and the safe and effective use of generics. The creation of drug management guidelines is costly and entails a lengthy process since it will require a nationwide effort and it would entail advocacy programs to spur it into action. Although politically it is viable, but concern over who would take charge of the planning and implementing is unsure, nevertheless it will generally benefit the public.
2. Launch a drug-purchasing program that makes drugs available to all people on Medicare and others without drug coverage and the uninsured with annual incomes up to 300 percent of poverty (less than $26,600). This alternative is costly, since the state would shoulder the additional costs of the drugs, it is politically feasible but might generate added debate and would take more time, it is also administratively difficult, and again it would benefit the public in every way.
3. Providing consumers with immediate price relief by legalizing the importation of lower priced prescription drugs from Canada and other countries with drug regulatory systems similar to ours as a stopgap measure until comprehensive reform passes. Increasing prescription drug cost and how it affects the healthcare of millions of American’s daily Page #7.
This alternative is not that costly, it would however be politically and administratively be difficult and would entail opposition from pharmaceutical companies, the public in some way would benefit from this given that the safety and effectiveness of the imported drugs are verified. Confronting the trade-offs In the evaluation of the proposed alternatives, what was given more weight was how fast could the alternative be implemented as the reality of high prescription drug cost is affecting all of us.
Of all the alternatives, the creation of drug management guidelines to educate physicians and consumers about effective therapeutic alternatives to costly brand drugs and the safe and effective use of generics stands out from the rest as the most feasible, it would not entail much politicking and it can be done just like any other advocacy systems of the government, while the other two alternatives would get lost and drowned in the legislation process. Decide.
The answer to the rising cost of prescription drugs and the question of its affordability to the uninsured is for the federal government and the state to work together to create drug management guidelines to educate physicians and consumers about effective therapeutic alternatives to costly brand drugs and the safe and effective use of generics. This would help the consumers get the most out of the amount they spend for health care. Tell your story Modern drugs have been a life saving aspect of our lives, but modern and expensive are not always the best, let us be informed and knowledgeable, we have a choice.
Bibliography Gardner, A. Uninsured Pay Dearly for Prescription Drugs, Health Day News July 2005 Gross, David, Health Care Cost and Financing Trends in the Costs, Coverage and Use of Prescription Drugs by Medicare Beneficiaries AARP Public Policy Institute, July 2001. Gross, David, “Trends in Manufacturer Prices of Brand Name Prescription Drugs Used by Older Americans, 2000 through 2003,” AARP Public Policy Institute, May 2004. Johnson, Lindsay “Paying the Price: The High Cost of Prescription Drugs for Uninsured Americans.
AkPIRG, October 2004, available at www. akpirg. org/Publications/Paying. pdf Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, “Health Insurance Coverage in America: 2003 Data Update Highlights,” issued on September 27, 2004: Figure 6. Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, Fact Sheet #1420-06, September 2004. Kaiser Family Foundation Fact Sheet titled: “The Medicare Prescription Drug Law,” Fact Sheet #7044, published in March 2004, available at www. kff. org. Searing, A. JD. Prescription Drug Pricing: The Consumer Perspective NC Med J.
November/December 2003, Volume 64, Number 6 pp 300-302 Steinman, M. A. et. al “Self restrictions of medications due to cost in seniors without prescription coverage”. Journal of General Internal Medicine 16, pp 793-799 U. S. Census Bureau. Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2003. Work, D. J. , et. al The Cost of Prescription Drugs: Rising Concerns over Equity, Fairness and Access to Essential Care NC Med J November/December 2003, Volume 64, Number 6 pp 270-274.