I know it's pretty easy to bash the pharmaceutical industry, and I could do that. I could talk about how their patents ruin competition, and how their products can be dangerous.
That's not what I'm going to do.
As much as I'd like to cut them out of the entire process of medicine, they do produce and sell some very beneficial drugs. And yes, much of the research and development for current and future drugs is on the dime of the federal government.
That said, how much do you spend on pharmaceuticals on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis?
According to CNN, Americans spent 287 billion dollars on prescription drugs in 2007.
According to Forbes, the most expensive prescription medication clocks in at more than $400,000.00 a year.
I was wondering about this question, because I take a couple things regularly, but the things I take are not all that expensive. As a matter of fact, I think I pay about the same in copays as I would pay to purchase the drug through the mail.
The task here is to tally your pharmaceutical costs. You can do it in any way you wish.
It would make sense to think about it in one or all of these ways:
Your cost.
The cost to the insurer.
The combined cost for you and your insurer.
The actual retail cost of the medication if purchased without insurance.
Please read this part:
I'm not asking you to share any information about your health status that you do not wish to share. I'm just curious to know what kinds of costs people around here have to stomach when they pay for their necessary medications.
The retail cost for my pharamceuticals would be somewhere around $8.00/day. The actual cost to me is $60.00/month in copays.
A couple of years ago, I was switched involuntarily to a generic form of one drug. I had heard bad stories about the generic. The generic actually wound up being more effective than the name brand.
Thanks for participating.