Much like the credit card industry is raising interest rates before the Credit Card Act 2009 goes into effect and changes things, prescription drug are dramatically raising prescription drug prices before the health care reform bill makes it through the Senate. It’s a shady business, especially when these exact same drug companies made a promise to President Obama, and the American people, to shave off $8 million from prescription drug costs.
The New York Times ran a front page report this morning, taking on the rising costs of prescription drugs and the interesting way in which drug companies seem to raise prices just ahead of impending new legislation. Drug companies did this same exact thing a few years back when congress decided to include drug benefits in Medicare. It’s the same old story, no matter how the drug companies swing it, they will continue to take advantage of consumers.
Of course, the prescription drug companies are claiming that the price increases are completely necessary, and have nothing to do with health care reform. They are saying that drug prices must be raised in order to keep funding at high levels for drug research and the development of new drugs…not for executive paychecks.
In the last year, the industry has raised the wholesale prices of brand-name prescription drugs by about 9 percent, according to industry analysts. That will add more than $10 billion to the nation’s drug bill, which is on track to exceed $300 billion this year. By at least one analysis, it is the highest annual rate of inflation for drug prices since 1992.
The drug trend is distinctly at odds with the direction of the Consumer Price Index, which has fallen by 1.3 percent in the last year. – New York Times
According to the New York Times, while drug companies are aggressively raising prescription drug prices, they are “proudly” citing the promise that they made to save American’s $8 million in drug costs, $80 million over the ten years promised.
The irony comes into play when you consider the fact that generic drugs are dropping in price, but when 78% of total prescription purchases are made for name brands, and those name brands have patent protection, the generics just can’t compete. And they won’t be able to compete when drug companies are raising prices to “development of new drugs as the patents on many of their most popular drugs are set to expire over the next few years.”
Tell me how this is going to save American’s $80 million over the next ten years?
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Drug Companies Raising Rates
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Because Patents Are Going To Expire
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Which Would Leave Room For Affordable Generics
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But Raising Rates Now Allows Them To Develop More Expensive Name Brand Drugs With New Patents
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Then Generics Cannot Compete
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We Pay Extra Now So That We Can Pay Extra Later
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Americans Lose Anyway You Look At It
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