Americans may be surprised to learn that they could be paying more for their medications with their insurance copay instead of the cash price available to those without insurance. A study published last week found that Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) undermine claims that negotiated “rebates” with pharmaceutical companies are passed on to consumers. This follows a federal lawsuit filed over the summer after a California woman paid a $164 copay on a medication that can be purchased for $92 from the same pharmacy by anyone not using insurance. This practice is known as “clawback” and is instituted by PBMs who […]
Category: Drug Discount Card
Less than 10% of Americans Uninsured
Over 7 million previously uninsured Americans gained health coverage in 2015 as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, aka ObamaCare). In a previous blog post, we showed the impact the ACA had since its full expansion in 2014. Since then, the uninsured rate has dropped to single-digits with 9.1% Americans remaining uncovered by insurance, a decline of 2.4% since last year. The Affordable Care Act has been criticized by Republicans and has led to multiple attempts to repeal the health care law or states refusing to expand Medicaid to help the poorest uninsured Americans. States that have […]
Looking Forward to 2015
2014 was an exciting year for us. We grew in many ways: more staff, new programs, new information, and increasing savings with our drug discount card. We are looking forward to even more in 2015. Here are just a few of the changes we expect to see: $4 generic drug information — Very soon we will be adding information on all the “$4 generic” programs in the country. The name – “$4 generic” – is a little misleading. It will include all the pharmacy programs that offer very inexpensive or even free medicines. Generic Assistance Program — We are […]
NeedyMeds in 2014
We’re wrapping up 2014 here at NeedyMeds, and it’s been a big year for us. We have kept true to our original mission to provide information on programs that help people who can’t afford medications and healthcare costs, and have expanded in the interest of offering more direct assistance to those in need. The year started with a redesign of our website. Later that January, we launched a unique crowdfunding platform called HEALfundr. Using HEALfundr, people can raise funds for verified medical expenses that will be paid directly with the crowd-raised funds. HEALfundr is the only crowdfunding platform to […]
Drug Discount Cards – Lifting the Veil of Secrecy
by Richard J. Sagall, MD, President of NeedyMeds Everywhere you look you see claims of savings from drug discount cards. You may be skeptical when cards promise huge savings. And you should be because not all the claims are real. Too Good to Be True The old saying “If it seems too good to be true then it probably is” applies to drug discount cards. Drug discount cards have the potential of saving you a lot of money, but you have to understand how they work. It’s important to remember that they all work basically the same way. […]