Thanks George! Drug costs soar for seniors

[democracy1st]

Drug costs soar for seniors
Cut in state funding boosts copayments
By Kay Lazar
Globe Staff / January 14, 2009

Tens of thousands of Bay State seniors are facing steep increases in the cost of their prescription drug copayments, the result of an $11 million cut in a state-funded program that, until Jan. 1, helped to defray their pharmacy costs.

More than 44,000 senior citizens are affected by the cuts in the Prescription Advantage program, with many seeing their copayments double or triple, officials said.

As a result, some seniors are simply leaving their prescriptions on the pharmacy counter, rather than pay a price they feel they can't afford, said Mary Sullivan, a pharmacist and director of MassMedLine, a nonprofit organization run by the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

"I am selling everything I can on eBay to help pay for these drugs," said Ralph F. Van Dean, a 77-year-old Swampscott resident who said he was hit with a $793 copayment Jan. 4 for four medications for his wife, Nina, who suffers from a chronic lung disease. Previously, he said, the copayment for the four drugs would have been about $50, because the Prescription Advantage program covered what Medicare did not.

The cuts in the Prescription Advantage program were part of the $1 billion cut the Patrick administration made in October, as the recession began eating into state revenues.


Many seniors apparently did not realize how they would be affected by the program cuts, despite mass mailings by the state and outreach by advocacy groups in November and December.

"They are calling us when they reach the pharmacy and realize their plans are not what they expected," said Sulllivan, of MassMedLine. Calls to the organization's hotline are running at double the normal volume, she said.

For years, the state-funded Prescription Advantage program has helped seniors who met income-eligibility requirements with copayments for their medicines. That aid has been available with no requirement that seniors first pay a set amount out of pocket before the assistance kicks in. But now state assistance with copayments will not be available until $2,700 has been spent yearly on covered prescription drugs by the enrollee and Medicare, combined.


The Executive Office of Elder Affairs has been trying to ease the effects of higher copayment by sending out information to seniors statewide. The state will hold "over 100 statewide informational seminars about the changes, as well as briefing senior centers, pharmacists, and senior counselors," said Barry.

With the state still facing a substantial budget gap and Governor Deval Patrick warning that another round of cuts is likely, advocates for seniors say most can not shoulder more increases in medication costs.


"Prescription drugs keep people healthy and away from more expensive care," she said. "If people are cutting back because they can't afford these costs, they may stop taking their prescriptions, and they may end up at emergency rooms all over the state."

Van Dean, the Swampscott senior who is caring for his wife, is himself fighting prostate cancer and recovering from a stroke, so he, too, is taking several medications. He gets help from the Veterans Administration with his prescription copayments.

Faced with cuts in the Prescription Advantage program, Van Dean called MassMedLine to help him switch to a Medicare plan with better coverage for his wife's medications, reducing that $793 copayment to about $150. That switch was made last week.

But, he said, he and his wife will still be scrimping to cover the higher copayments for her medications for about three months, until they hit the $2,700 limit. Then, her copayments with Prescription Advantage assistance will revert to $7 for generic medications and $18 for brand name ones.

"We live on our Social Security now, and that barely covers what our expenses are, especially with the heat," he said, adding that the cost of medications "can wipe us out."

Massachusetts residents can call MassMedLine at 866-633-1617 for free assistance with questions about drug coverage.

Kay Lazar can be reached at [email protected].
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/01/14/drug_costs_soar_for_seniors/?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed5

[SoCalDem]

1. I have a friend who has had an ear infection since NOVEMVER

but she cannot aford to go to the doctor.. she's in real danger of losing her hearing, but has relied on "web" medical advice.. Her medicare kicks in in March:(

Her son gave her some antibiotics he had left over, but without seeing a doctor, who knows if they are even the right ones:(

She lives in a small mobile home and gets about $900 a month from her deceased husband's pension & his SS.. She used to work at Walmart, but she hurt her back and then was among a "lay-off wave"...

[Uben]

2. I have a friend who ......

..has had a abcessed tooth for about four months. He can't afford to go to the dentist. I gave him some pain meds, but I had no antibiotics. I told him I would loan him the money to get it fixed, but he won't do it.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

3. That can actually kill him. He needs to go fast to the emergency room

and get some antibiotics ASAP and worry about how to pay for later. There was a really sad story not too long ago about a little boy who died from a tooth abcess and lack of medical care.

[shadowknows69]

9. I almost died the other day from one.

It's a frequent occurance unfortunately. Usually I have to pill myself unconscious for a full day or two and my body heals. It's a rough ride though.

[HillbillyBob]

4. A suggestion for the two previous posters

Raw unfiltered natural honey will help some. I know it is not a panacea. I am a long term HIV patient, I am lucky that meds are covered, at least for now by my medicaid and medicare.
I was sure that Medicaid D was a payoff for pharma lobby by Bushco when they started talking about it.
When my medicaid gets cut off (has twice already) just my copay is around 1,000$, full cost of my meds is 2800 to 3200$ my SSD just went up to a whole 853$ my partner has a decent job, but his entire pay wouldn't cover my meds, aside from HIV, I have to take suppressive med for hpv(cancer 3 surgeries) seizures, constant ear infections, thrush(candidaisis(sp?) on and on.
Our neighbor has beehives, I take 2 or 4 tablespoons each day.
It keeps the ear infection and thrush down enough that I don't don't have to stay on antibiotics all the time or fluconazole for the thrush.
It started with me finding a jar of honey that had been pushed to the back of the cabinet and had been there for a couple of years or better and it was a bit granulated, but still good.
My partner and I started discussing that there was no mold or spoilage.
I have been taking the honey for about 7 or 8 years now, I still get some infections, but it has been much I could not get raw unfiltered local for about 2 months, inside 2 weeks I had raging ear infection and thrush that I had to get dr to prescribe 3 rounds of antibiotic, and that still did not clear up completely til I was back on honey.
I realize this is anecdotal.
I had been diagnosed poz 25 years ago and likely was poz for about 4 6 years prior to that.
I had one infection after another I had thrush so bad that I had to have IV fluconazole several times, even to having it in my lungs.
When I started the honey treatment I could not touch a beer as the yeast would instantly grow I had low tcell (19)count.
I know the reg hiv meds have help bring my tcell (190_count and percentages up. I swear the honey helps..at anyrate couldn't hurt.
It has been used for centuries as a wound med and for this and that.
That we need to have affordable meds is a given, it is outrageous that folks have to sell everything and go bankrupt is a bloody shame. That they have to lose all they have worked for and go bankrupts is an outrage.
I think we need to do some real research on natural medicine not stuff that big pharma gets billions in our tax dollars to R&D, then charges us big bucks to sell it to us.

[.... callchet ....]

5. " I wish you were dead "

When you cut back on health care, you are denying health care to some. When you deny health care to some, some will die because of

the cuts................... When you deny health care you are saying " I wish you were dead ".

Denying health care is passive genocide.

Genocide is the organized attempt to deliberately and systematically destroy, in whole or in part, an ethnic, racial, religious, or "national group".

[shadowknows69]

7. And they still wonder why some people snap and go shoot up a 7-11 for $200

[shadowknows69]

6. How about for everyone

A couple of mine have nearly tripled in pirce. If my Dr. wasn't able to get me a significant number of free samples we wouldn't be having this conversation.

[.... callchet ....]

8. " I wish you were dead "

When you cut back on health care, you are denying health care to some. When you deny health care to some, some will die because of

the cuts................... When you deny health care you are saying " I wish you were dead ".

Denying health care is passive genocide.

Genocide is the organized attempt to deliberately and systematically destroy, in whole or in part, an ethnic, racial, religious, or "national group".

[sinkingfeeling]

10. Drug costs are up for everybody. It's all greed on the part of the drug manufacturers. A single

vial of insulin has increased from $17.99 in 2004 to $46.49 last week. This is the same insulin, patented by Eli Lilly in 1982. There are no research costs involved in insulin. But Lilly has had a ton of lawsuits with others over Humulin patents.