What good is a miracle drug if you cant afford it? So asks Dr. John D. Bennett, the President and CEO of Capital District Physicians Health Plan, in an article in the Albany Business Review. Its a question weve long been asking drugmakers, and like Dr. Bennnett, were still waiting for an answer.
Behind that question are six-figure prices for specialty pharmaceuticals unaffordable price tags set by drug companies preying on the wallets and emotions of patients who are desperate to find cures, according to Bennnett.
To see how a handful of drugs could bankrupt the entire U.S. health care system, look no further than oncology treatments, whose prices jumped by 10.6 percent in 2013 alone. Add to that the fact that more than 1,000 cancer drugs are under development and most of those treatments will cost a patient more than $120,000 a year. And even more troubling, those astronomical price tags extend to older cancer therapies as well. Many of these drugs offer great promise for patients, but their prices threaten access to them.
Then we have specialty drugs that treat hepatitis C most notably, Sovaldi and Harvoni at $1,000 and $1,125 a pop to demonstrate how the cost of life-saving medications has soared far out of reach for many patients. As Dr. Bennett puts it, We hoped for a day when miracle drugs like Sovaldi would cure hepatitis C. Now that were here, we must come together to make these drugs affordable, for everyone.
Health plans continue to focus on ensuring affordability and accessibility, echoing Dr. Bennetts call to find a sustainable pricing solution.
