General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI was paying eight dollars on my insurance covered generic medication.
Yesterday I got a big surprise when the pharmacist told me that it had increased to $36.86, with my insurance covering the rest. Huh? The rest? How much did it increase? 600 - 800% was what he told me. And he added that the pharmacy was still giving me a discount until people know about the increase, and then they'll start charging according to the new price.
The company that makes generic enalapril increased the price 600 - 800%! WTF? Generic enalapril has been on the market at least for the past twenty years and all of a sudden the company gets greedy. Said company is Merck & Co. Greedy assholes!
KT2000
(20,544 posts)and take the consequences as my 2 pharma drugs have increased. One is digoxin (generic) which was first formulated in 1785 and they decided to charge what the market will bear when most manufacturers dropped out. At this point I am just glad I did not take most of the drugs recommended to me.
What are doctors going to do when patients inform them that they cannot afford pharma drugs. Will they be prepared with alternatives or just send them away?
LiberalArkie
(15,686 posts)the name brand non-generic Upjohn was $52. I did a double take.
spanone
(135,632 posts)it's called gouging...with your life on the line.
csziggy
(34,120 posts)There may be similar drugs that have not had this increase. For instance on http://www.drugs.com/enalapril.html they list lisinopril as a similar drug - my husband takes that for his blood pressure and the pharmacy charges nothing for it. But talk to your doctor and maybe you can change medications.
If that doesn't work, try GoodRx.com - for one of my medications that would cost almost $290 per month I found it through GoodRx.com for about $30 per month from a different pharmacy. In my area they show Enalapril for between $9 and $30 depending on pharmacy and coupons. Some of the lower prices don't even use the GoodRx discounts.
Unknown Beatle
(2,672 posts)I'll be using GoodRX from now on as I take three types of medication and I'm sure I'll find a better price.
csziggy
(34,120 posts)My sister has one that is almost $600 a month and GoodRx couldn't get her a better deal. It just depends on the particular medicine.