19 May 2004
Canadian, Internet vendors offer better deals than Medicare
A spot-check of prices on www.Medicare.gov shows private sponsors of Medicare discount cards already have shaved a few dollars off some of the most-popular drugs for seniors, as competition for beneficiaries heats up.
A 30-day supply of Lipitor, for example, now would cost $64.67 to $71.94 locally, if consumers buy one of the smaller doses (10 milligrams) of the popular cholesterol-lowering drug through one of the approved Medicare cards now on the market.
That compares with a price range on April 29 of $67.07 to $80.48 nationally for a month's worth of the drug, according to Families USA.
The Washington, D.C.-based consumer group compared prices for Lipitor and nine other widely prescribed drugs for seniors, looking at what the Department of Veterans Affairs pays for these drugs; prices in Canada; prices from the Internet prescription-drug vendor Drugstore.com; and prices from one of the 67 Medicare-sponsored discount cards.
Lipitor's price for a 30-day supply was far cheaper if bought in Canada for $35.42. The Department of Veterans Affairs price was $40.55. And even prices at Drugstore.com -- at $62.99 for a month's supply -- were lower than the discount cards, according to the consumer group's recent study.
"Everyone needs to match up their drugs" for the best prices, said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA.
The size of drug-card discounts can change at any time, while consumers are locked into a card choice for a year, Pollack said.
The discount cards, available on a voluntary basis to Medicare recipients as of May 3, can be used as of June 1. Enrollment fees are as high as $30 annually.
The program has been billed by the government as a stopgap measure until the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act goes into effect in 2006, providing seniors with interim relief from rising drug prices.
For private companies, the incentives for offering these interim cards vary, said Jerry Senne, president of Health First Health Plans, the largest health-maintenance organization in Brevard County.
"All other things being equal," Senne said, "drug-card sponsors are trying to curry favor with the president -- to position themselves for a fully insured Medicare drug benefit, once it becomes available in 2006."
BY SUSAN JENKS FLORIDA TODAY
May 18, 2004
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