Uninsured
consumers in Madison pay 61% more for common prescription drugs than
what the drug companies charge the federal government, according to
Paying the Price, The High Cost of Prescription Drugs for Uninsured
Americans, a new Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group report
released today. Uninsured Milwaukee consumers are paying 60% more and
Green Bay consumers are paying 55% more according to the report, which
surveyed costs in 35 cities across the nation.
“Politicians
have focused on the high cost of prescription drugs for senior
citizens, but with no one to negotiate lower prices on their behalf,
millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans go it alone at the
drugstore and they pay the price,” said Jennifer Giegerich, WISPIRG
State Director.
In
the spring of 2006, WISPIRG teamed up with state PIRGs across the
country to survey more than 600 pharmacies in 35 cities to determine
how much uninsured consumers pay for 10 drugs when compared with prices
paid by the federal government, which uses its buying power to
negotiate with drug companies for lower prices. While many studies have
focused on the impact of high drug prices on senior citizens, WISPIRG’s
survey examined the prices uninsured consumers pay for a range of
prescription drugs widely used by Americans under 65, such as
antibiotics, allergy medication, anti-depressants, and
cholesterol-lowering medication.
Among the report’s key findings:
- Uninsured
consumers in Green Bay pay fifty-five percent more, Milwaukee uninsured
consumers pay sixty percent more, and uninsured Madison consumers pay
sixty-one percent more than the federal government pays for the same
drugs.
- The uninsured in Green Bay and Milwaukee pay about twice as much at
local drug stores than they would pay for the same drugs at a Canadian
pharmacy, while Madison consumers pay almost three times as more. One
drug, the hormone replacement Premarin, costs 533 percent more at a
drugstore in Milwaukee than it would at a Canadian pharmacy. Premarin
costs 484.3 percent more in Green Bay and 521 percent more in Madison
than it would at a Canadian pharmacy.
- Nationally, uninsured Americans pay 60 percent more on average than the
federal government pays for the prescription drugs surveyed.
- For all 35 cities surveyed, the uninsured were charged twice as much
for drugs purchased at their local drugs stores than they would pay at
a Canadian pharmacy.
WISPIRG had the following policy recommendations:
- Increase the availability of low cost generic drugs by increasing the
budget for the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Generic Drugs,
which currently has a backlog of 800 generic drug applications waiting
for approval.
- Establish prescription drug-buying pools at the state level to allow
individuals (including the uninsured), businesses and the government to
use their combined buying power to negotiate lower drug prices with
manufacturers.
- Legalize prescription drug importation. This would provide immediate
relief to consumers, cutting their prescription drugs costs in half.
WISPIRG had the following tips for consumers:
- Use the phone and shop around. Some pharmacists offer discounts to those without insurance coverage.
- Use the Internet to find out the average retail cost of medications.
- Buy generic drugs, which are almost always less expensive than brand name counterparts, whenever possible.
