I love what a fellow Diarist said yesterday: OWS is a catalyst. Indeed it is. The "Move Your Money" impetus would not have been so strong had not OWS been a catalyst for change that is waking America up to its potential. The 99% are strong, and they can influence many things, including the way Big Pharma serves the people, and most especially how it doesn't serve the people.
Times are tough. The President's deal with Big Pharma to not require them to bargain with the government on prescription prices makes it very difficult for those out of work, or on a fixed income, and those who cannot afford medical insurance, plus the millions of us who are simply not well ensconced in the upper middle class to afford their non-generic prescriptions.
Oh, yes, I do know that the Healthcare bill is not yet in full force, and that we are lucky to have gotten anything passed towards having affordable healthcare. But most folks who want affordable and most especially Universal Health Care that is Single Payer know that it is too little, and not near soon enough.
Our country spends more and gets less than any other "first world" country on health care, and prescriptions are just one aspect of those high costs.
If it is not the insurance company hiking up the cost of non-generic drugs, it is the Walgreens, or the CVS, or the Walmart, or whatever drug dispenser you use.
Our illnesses are making trillions in profit for Big Pharma.
Those profits do not go back into our economy. They may make a few more jobs for Pharmacists and their assistants, but largely that money goes into shareholder's pockets, who use it to invest in more shares, and those shareholders are not going to sell their Big Pharma shares while they are producing so very well off of the people's misery.
More under the Orange Squiggle of Love...
The Fortune 500 list for 2011 includes 12 companies who make huge profits off of the insane markups of non-generic prescription drugs.
When it comes to generic drugs, the market pressures of our slow economy have effected a downward trend in prices, thanks to a marketing scheme begun by the richest company in America, Walmart. This has not translated to non-generic drugs, and this is where "Move your Prescriptions" comes in.
The top profit maker for the year is Walmart, (profits of 16.389 billion) which has bowed to consumers with its generic drug program, now copied by all the other big pharmacies. Basically they use generic drugs as a "loss leader" to get consumers into the stores. (Which is not to say that there is not still some small profit on the drugs.) Of course most of the people who are on a generic and who also need to fill non-generic prescriptions will fill prescription(s) at the same place....at Walmart, or Walgreens, CVS, etc. This means what is lost on potential profit in the generic drug has to be made up for in the non-generic category. I'm speaking in corporate-think here, where the bottom line is always the same even if the customer thinks that they are saving money.
Please keep in mind that I am in no way advocating buying prescriptions at Walmart. I would be the last person to do that. I believe strongly that Walmart should put some of the billions of dollars profit it makes into decent wage levels for its employees. Walmart tested direct marketing of prescriptions in 2009 to "Caterpillar" where they by-passed the third party resellers and sold directly to retirees and employees of Caterpillar to keep the prices down. What this means is another link in the expensive chain of companies that comprise Big Pharma and keeps our costs up may be breaking.
This would be a good thing, however, the Bait and Switch is still in play, and the money saved by consumers of those non-generics is, I believe, passed on as additional costs to the buyer of non-generics, whether within the favored group, or just by overcharging the rest of us schlubs.
In other words, those favored folks who work for Caterpillar or other huge companies, for whom Walmart is willing to cut out the middleman may receive the benefit of savings, and the rest of us are probably taking up any slack there may be in profits from such beneficent Walmart behavior.
Regardless of whether the loss leader profits from Walmart's generic drug program are truly passed on to you and I, the users of non-generic drugs, the fact is that the cost of non-generic drugs, or drugs for which there is no generic version, is crippling to those with chronic conditions.
Though I cannot prove it, I suspect that non-generic prices have gone up specifically to replace the profits made by pharmacies before the Walmart 4-10 dollar generic drug "special" came about. I do know that the price for my non-generic Insulins have jumped significantly, by 12-15% over the past two years. In non-business speak this is called "the Bait and Switch".
I take two non-generic drugs, both of them Insulin. My medical insurance company "covers" my prescriptions at two different rates. One rate is a discount of 20% up to a cap of 1500.00 per year in meds, and then after that my crappy insurance company (NASE) pays somewhere around 5% of the prescription cost. For this privilege, with a 5000.00 deductible, I pay 700.00 per month. Private insurance for two people.
After the cap is met, I pay 120.00 a vial for one type of Insulin, which lasts me 8-9 days, and 108.00 for the other type, which lasts me around 14 days. So my non-generics cost me around 600.00 per month, when averaged out. Supplies and generics are extra.
Disclaimer: There is one prescription I get at Walmart because it is not sold at my regular pharmacy. It is an obscure glucose test strip that is half the price of regular test strips. They are made in the US and I simply cannot afford to test four times a day at a dollar a pop. I can barely afford to test 3 or 4 times at 50 cents a pop.
All of these health care costs are keeping me broke. I am stimulating the profits of the health care industry, not the general economy. Not only are they keeping me broke, but I cannot afford to see a doctor for regular care for my condition.
And that needs to change.
Tomorrow I am picking up a supply of the 120.00 a vial Insulin, which was mailed to me from Canada, purchased at 50.00 a vial. I am, as of tomorrow, realizing a 59% savings on my most expensive med. I'd have it today, but today is a holiday. (Thank you to all the Vets out there who serve this country.)
Canadian online med services (many of which are owned by Americans) don't seem to want to compete with the loss leader generics that we currently have here in the States. But they do offer savings from 10% to 60% on non-generic drugs.
Be warned: there are plenty of scam artists who will gladly pretend to sell you real product, only to sell you who knows what, but what is something other than the real thing.
Do your due diligence. Ask what pharmacy they use, and phone the pharmacy yourself to verify that they do indeed fill prescriptions there. Ask for their license number, and call the pharmacy regulating body to verify that license. Each province has a regulating body. Here is a list of fraudulent websites: link.
The legality of importing prescription drugs from Canada is answered well by this FAQ answer from this website, which is not the one I am using:
**********************
Legality; Pending Legislation
The federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (“Act”) currently prohibits the importation of prescription drugs into the United States by anyone other than the original manufacturer. Additionally, the Act makes no distinction between individuals and corporations or other commercial entities. As a result, under current law, it is true that individuals who purchase prescription drugs from sources outside the U.S., and either import or reimport them into the U.S., are in violation of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act. However, it is also true that the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and the Customs Department, for a number of reasons, have intentionally chosen not to enforce the law – so long as it is an individual (as opposed to a corporation or commercial entity) who is obtaining prescription drugs from a licensed source outside the U.S. It is also important to note that CMUSA, in its role as a facilitator of the order process, is not in violation of the law. Simply stated, CMUSA does not “cause” its customers to place orders. What CMUSA does do is provide assistance and customer service.
It’s also important to note that there have been efforts under way in the United States Congress for several years to change the law and make it fully legal for individuals to buy their medications from Canada and other selected countries. There is substantial bi-partisan support in Congress for this change. At the same time, despite strong opposition by the pharmaceutical industry, the federal government has continued its policy of “non-enforcement” regarding the importation of prescription drugs by individuals.
CMUSA BELIEVES THAT THE FACTS ABOUT THE LEGALITY OF ORDERING DRUGS FROM OUTSIDE THE U.S. SHOULD BE FULLY DISCLOSED TO ITS CUSTOMERS. FURTHERMORE, CMUSA ROUTINELY ADVISES PROSPECTIVE CUSTOMERS THAT THEY SHOULD CONSIDER PURCHASING PRESCRIPTIONS FROM CANADA (OR ELSEWHERE) ONLY IF THEY ARE COMPLETELY COMFORTABLE DOING SO.
*********************
I am using this website to order my meds, and so far the experience has been great. I signed up for the 50.00 shipping for life plan, so no matter how many times I refill, I will not be paying for any more shipping.
Next I will ask my doctor for a new prescription for the second type of Insulin to be mailed to me, and I will follow the website's instructions, which are:
1. Place your prescription order online.
2. Fax the scanned prescription (or directly fax it if you have a fax feeder that will accommodate it, along with a sheet specifying the order number of the drug or drugs you have ordered and your name.
3. Mail the actual prescription to a US address where they pick up a couple of times a week.
The prescription is validated by a pharmacist and filled, then mailed via USPS (yay!) to you and a tracking number is provided in your online account.
I am asking all of you who have non-generic prescriptions to look into taking your money out of Big Pharma USA and teaching them a lesson.
The lesson that they need to learn is not to kill the Golden Goose. And we, the 99%, are the Golden Goose who gives wealth to them. We can refuse to give it to them. If we do, we can watch prices come down as they decide to negotiate for lower prices on non-generics to compete with the prices available from Canadian pharmacies and pharmacies from other countries, or, until our government finally takes Big Pharma by the horns and MAKES it negotiate prices more in line with what other countries are able to provide.
Big Pharma's Bait and Switch between generic and non-generic pricing will die a greasy death and leave a greasier stain on the pavement of the sidewalk which runs through Wall Street if we are united as the 99%.