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Insurers Quietly Hike Rx Costs

Plans slip in soaring co-pays for most expensive drugs

By Greg Atwan, Newser User

Posted Apr 14, 2008 9:47 AM CDT

(Newser) – Pricey prescription drugs are getting pricier, and, the New York Times reports, insurance companies are asking patients to shoulder more of the burden. Insurers are quietly phasing out traditional drug plans, which charge a fixed co-pay of $20 or $30 to fill a prescription, in favor of so-called Tier 4 plans, which squeeze patients who need certain expensive drugs for as much as a third of their cost—which can run to thousands of dollars a month.

Tier 4 began with Medicare, but has bled into traditional plans, including the ones offered by employers—often with minimal and inconspicuous notification. One MS victim saw her co-pays suddenly soar from $20 for a month's supply to $325. “This is an erosion of the traditional concept of insurance,” one health economist says. “Those beneficiaries who bear the burden of illness are also bearing the burden of cost.”

Pharmacist Salvatore Ciolino, Jr. reaches for a prescription bottle at a Gloucester, Mass. pharmacy, Friday, Dec. 14, 2007. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole)

Chart shows average percentage change in manufacturer prices for brand name prescription drugs and average change in cost of therapy for chronic conditions, 2002 to 2007 (AP Photo)

Shelves of prescription drugs sit on display at Maximart Pharmacy in Palo Alto, Calif., Friday, Dec. 14, 2007. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

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Insurers Quietly Hike Rx Costs

Plans slip in soaring co-pays for most expensive drugs

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Insurers Quietly Hike Rx Costs

Plans slip in soaring co-pays for most expensive drugs

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OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

health care • insurance companies • drug companies • insurance • prescription drugs • co-pays

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Health Law May End Co-Pay for Birth Control

May be one of several preventive-care benefits insurers must provide

Veteran Loses Insurance Over 2-Cent Mistake

Ronald Flanagan needs potentially life-saving transplant

New Program Pays People to Take Their Medicine

Cost-saving idea, or slippery slope?

In Retreat, Obama Weighs Scaled-Back Health Options

Modest coverage, cost reforms now on horizon

Drugmakers Hike Prices Ahead of Reform

9% rise, in a year of falling prices, will add $10B to drug spending

About Us

Site

Newser By Users

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?