How humanitarian of them. Drug maker Mylan, facing massive backlash for its massive price increase on the lifesaving EpiPen, has announced it's expanding an assistance program that will bring the price down for those with private insurance. Notably, "the drugmaker stopped short of saying it would roll back prices or limit future increases."
EpiPen is a lifesaving treatment for millions whose allergies can send them into severe shock, including many schoolchildren who are advised to keep an injector handy at all times. A pack of two lists for $608.61, up 548% since Mylan began selling the drug in late 2007, according to Truven Health Analytics.
After widespread criticism recently, Mylan said Thursday it would expand access and increase benefits to programs that it uses to help consumers pay less, but those changes wouldn’t alter the prices that insurers and employers pay. Those institutions will still face the brunt of the impact from the price hikes, though they are frequently able to privately negotiate cheaper prices than the ones listed.
Mylan said it was “doubling eligibility” for its EpiPen patient assistance program—which subsidizes the cost of the drugs for low-income patients—to 400% of the poverty level, saying that a family of four making $97,200 would now pay nothing out of pocket for a prescription. [emphasis added]
Additionally, Mylan will "expand its savings card that currently covers copays by up to $100, which would put its maximum at $300." So patients who have private or employer insurance could have their out-of-pocket expenses reduced, but notably those on public insurance—Medicare and Medicaid—can't get the savings card. Which means the government—the taxpayers—will be bearing the burden of the 548 percent price increase.
The most galling part of the statement from CEO Heather Bresch, who is also Sen. Joe Manchin's (W-VA) daughter, might be this: "As the health insurance environment has evolved, driven by the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, patients and families enrolled in high deductible health insurance plans, who are uninsured, or who pay cash at the pharmacy, have faced higher costs for their medicine." Yes, she says it's ultimately Obamacare's fault. Oh, and the insurance companies'.
Wanna be even more enraged by all this? Here's a former Pharma Exec.