PHARMACIST STEVE

Notice NOT ONE REPUBLICAN signed this letter. It was also the Democrats that voted AGAINST Medicare Part D in 2004-2005.  When Medicare started in 1965 there was no medication coverage

Part A covered hospital

Part B  covered doc’s office visits and lab tests

Once a pt got a diagnose with what their health issues where.. there was no coverage for medication to treat their health issues.

Off course, back then, the average Rx price was abt $4 and there were few generics.. everything was BRAND NAME…

Today with generics being some 85%+ of all prescriptions the average Rx price is pushing $60 each.

We really didn’t start see price increases until the PBM’s came to being (1969-1970)  with the goal of saving the pts and the system money and when Congress starting pushing for generics to come to the market place.. mid-70’s.

If one applied the CPI (Consumer Price Index) or COLA ( Cost of Living Index Adjustment) to those 1965 prices… and nothing else changed one would expect that the average Rx price to be in the $ 30 -40 range today.

Aren’t we all glad that the increase in generic utilization and the PBM industry has helped us all save money ?

Filed under: General Problems