Health Boards
Sat-29-06-2019, 19:23 PM
(This post was last modified: Sat-29-06-2019, 19:24 PM by Kat. Edited 1 time in total.)
I'd have to write a book to explain it. 
But I'll try to make it short. Here in the United States most have a prescription plan (that is separate from medical). The cost varies greatly per prescription and also depends on what pharmacy you use. Generic brands run cheaper when available. My cost is usually anywhere from $1 to $100+ depending on the prescription. Right now my cheapest prescription is around $5 and the most expensive runs a little over $100 (for an inhaler). Most of my other prescriptions are in the $10 - $20 range. All of those costs are for a 30 day supply. Like most insurance some plans pay better than others. I would say ours is on the "average" side of things. (Low income usually receives all medications at no cost, with some exceptions) I add that as it seems in that regard there is a lot of misunderstanding in how the system over here works.
For biologics it really varies. Stelara was billed through my medical insurance using bill and buy (where the hospital buys it and administers it) and my cost was $0. Cosentyx went through my prescription plan's specialty pharmacy and with the Cosentyx Co pay as well as my prescription plan co pay it was $0. Taltz is going through a different specialty pharmacy and Taltz has a plan that makes my cost $5. I do not know why they are handled so differently other than due to the high costs the doctor's have found the best deals for their patients and go in that direction perhaps. Obviously there aren't too many people willing (or able) to pay the $10,000+ per injection so it's their way of working it out I guess. Makes no sense to me. I would be curious as to how much the company ACTUALLY makes per injection. And since I doubt it's anywhere near what they list as the cost, I don't know why they can't just lower the cost but I'm sure there is some business strategy involved somewhere making them more money.
But I'll try to make it short. Here in the United States most have a prescription plan (that is separate from medical). The cost varies greatly per prescription and also depends on what pharmacy you use. Generic brands run cheaper when available. My cost is usually anywhere from $1 to $100+ depending on the prescription. Right now my cheapest prescription is around $5 and the most expensive runs a little over $100 (for an inhaler). Most of my other prescriptions are in the $10 - $20 range. All of those costs are for a 30 day supply. Like most insurance some plans pay better than others. I would say ours is on the "average" side of things. (Low income usually receives all medications at no cost, with some exceptions) I add that as it seems in that regard there is a lot of misunderstanding in how the system over here works.
For biologics it really varies. Stelara was billed through my medical insurance using bill and buy (where the hospital buys it and administers it) and my cost was $0. Cosentyx went through my prescription plan's specialty pharmacy and with the Cosentyx Co pay as well as my prescription plan co pay it was $0. Taltz is going through a different specialty pharmacy and Taltz has a plan that makes my cost $5. I do not know why they are handled so differently other than due to the high costs the doctor's have found the best deals for their patients and go in that direction perhaps. Obviously there aren't too many people willing (or able) to pay the $10,000+ per injection so it's their way of working it out I guess. Makes no sense to me. I would be curious as to how much the company ACTUALLY makes per injection. And since I doubt it's anywhere near what they list as the cost, I don't know why they can't just lower the cost but I'm sure there is some business strategy involved somewhere making them more money.
