A warmer Thursday start with stray showers this afternoonFTC issues refunds of over $5M to Ring customers; are you eligible?
Increasing specialty drug prices force adults into tough financial decisions. (Credit: MGN) Specialty drugs are costing Americans thousands of dollars each year and prices are not getting less expensive. A new report from AARP finds the average cost each year for widely used specialty drugs are almost 20,000 times more than the median U.S. household income. “My father always said, ‘save for a rainy day,’ “Maryann Hebert said. “I’ve been trying to put away what I can.” That motto is what a multiple sclerosis patient, Hebert, lives by in Port Charlotte every day as she budgets her money to pay for specialty drugs to treat the condition affecting her nerves. She said the prices continue to increase. It is a trend that Leigh Purvis with the AARP calls a significant issue in America. He said people are having a hard time affording the drugs that they need, especially when it comes to specialty medicines that treat multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis. “They’re really having to make trade-offs,” Purvis said, “between paying for RX drugs and paying rent or for groceries.” The trade-offs are why she is glad to see Florida’s Canadian drug importation program moving forward to save patients money. But Dr. Victor Claar, Florida Gulf Coast University professor of Economics, said we are not in the clear yet. “Pharmaceutical companies could simply label drugs that say, ‘this is unlawful for use anywhere else except in Canada,'” Dr. Claar said. These adults with disabilities who have financial problems purchasing their specialty drug medications are supported by data from AARP in a recently released report. Retail prices for 97 widely used specialty drugs went up an average of 7%, compared to U.S. inflation, which was barely over 2% for the same time. “This is definitely not an issue that’s going away,” Purvis said. The long term problem is why Hebert plans for massive expenses years in advance and encourages others to speak up about the costs. “I just wish everybody luck,” Hebert said. “Keep fighting. There’s power in numbers.”