Prescription Drugs


The high cost of prescription drugs

The high cost of prescription drugs is threatening the lives of many senior citizens and low income citizens in America. The price for prescription drugs just keeps climbing; at a speed double that of inflation. Many of America’s seniors are skipping taking their needed medication, or sharing it with a friend or another family member, or not buying it at all, because they can not afford to buy their medication and eat. Because of these high prices many state funded agencies are also cutting benefits because of the prices of prescription drugs.

Many Americans that do have health insurance, their health insurance does not cover the cost of prescription drugs. Older Americans on Medicare can not get their outpatient prescriptions because they are not covered by Medicare. These older citizens need this medication to sustain a healthy and enjoyable life. Senior citizens in America use one third of all the prescriptions drugs bought in America. Among the uninsured in America are 10 million children.

Drug manufactures charge different prices for their prescription drugs to various agencies.
Uninsured Americans can pay up to twice as much as the federal government for the exact same prescription drug. Uninsured Americans also pay more than those that are insured, even if you buy the prescription drug at the same location. State Medicaid does pay a fixed price set by the federal government, but it is around 30 percent higher than what the federal government pays. Even at the price that the federal government pays the drug manufacturers are still making a large profit.

Let’s use Cipro an antibiotic for the example of the high cost of prescription drugs.
This prescription drug is used to fight anthrax, and other life threatening bacterial infections. I myself am an uninsured American. I paid $10 per pill for a bottle of 10 for the total cost of $100. Because of the “340B” program public health sites can buy this drug for around 43 cents. Bayer who is the manufacturer can manufacture this pill for less than 10 cents a piece.

It breaks down like the below example for prescription drugs.
Retail cost of a prescription drug $100
The uninsured will pay $100
Insurance companies will pay around $75
Medicaid pays close to $60
Federal government pays close to $50
Veterans Administration pays less than $50

What can we do to fight the high cost of prescription drugs?
We can contact our congressmen and tell them our concerns, we can write letter to other government agencies like the FDA and even the President of the United States, we can seek out discount pharmacies online, or we can buy prescription drugs from Canada.

If you decide to look for place to find prescription drugs at a reasonable price you can start you search on google.com or any other search engine that you prefer.

Be sure that the company that you find online is a legitimate pharmacy to buy prescription drug from. A good place to find out the reputation of an online pharmacy is
The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. On their site you will be able to find licensed pharmacies.
Other tips on buying prescription drugs online:
Do not buy a prescription drug from a company that will sell the drug to you without first seeing your prescription.
If they do not have a pharmacist available online for you to speak with avoid them.
If they do not have an address and phone number listed so you can contact them, do not trust them.
If you decide to buy from a Canadian website, be sure they are licensed and that the drugs are authentic.

Remember when purchasing prescription drugs online to do your research first. Do not give out any personal information until you are sure that this company will in fact keep on information confidential and that they are a reputable pharmacy with a licensed pharmacist available.