Consumer advocacy group Families USA has claimed that prices for the 20 medicines most-prescribed for US seniors are 58% higher under the Medicare prescription drug benefit than when they are provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Families USA issued its report shortly before the House of Representatives was due to vote on a bill to end the current ban on the federal government from negotiating drug prices and a Senate Finance Committee hearing into this issue which is set for today.
In its report, Families USA examined the prices which are charged for the 20 drugs by the VA and also by the five companies which have the largest enrolments in the Medicare drug benefit programme. These firms are UnitedHealthcare/PacifiCare, Humana, Wellpoint, Member Health and WellCare.
Families USA says it has found that the prices charged by plans sponsored by the five companies are:
- 50%-75% percent higher than the VA price for Pfizer's anti-inflammatory drug Celebrex (celecoxib);
- 51%-82% more for Pfizer's lipid-lowerer Lipitor (atorvastatin 10 mg);
- 69%-95% higher for AstraZeneca's Nexium (omeprazole), used to treat heartburn and acid reflux disease;
- 205%-261% more for Merck & Co's osteoporosis treatment Fosamax (alendronate);
- 435%-522% higher for Wyeth's gastrointestinal agent Protonix (pantoprazole); and
- 1,066%-1,229% for Merck & Co's lipid-lowerer Zocor (simvastatin 20 mg).
A generic version of Zocor became available in June 2006, but the lowest price offered by the top insurers for the generic equivalent is still 706% higher than the lowest VA price for brand-name Zocor, says the report.
"These high prices devastate seniors who need to take multiple medicines, especially when they reach the coverage gap known as the 'doughnut hole'," commented Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA.
"They are also a rip-off of American taxpayers, who pay for three-quarters of the costs of Medicare Part D [the prescription drug benefit]," he added.
Source: PharmaTimes
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