More to this than meets the eye and/or obama and drug companies requesting generics

[ALL RISE]

Obama is having one of his Town Hall meetings.

A gentlemen got up and talked about his frustration with his insurance carrier requesting that he stop taking his brand name medication in lieu of using a generic.

President Obama reassured the gentlemen that this is all okay and it is designed for people to use generics to cut cost which all makes sense.

What the gentlemen did not inform President Obama was the total inconvenience of the patient when the generic is not working, the continuing syptoms, and overall the endless phone tag that goes on in the physicans office, that in the long run causes the patient, over the insurance contract year, to lose at least three prescriptions generic or brand name which is saving the insurance companies and totally inconveniencing the patient while the insured is making those choking insurance premiums.

The 'insured' and/or patient is powerless.

Just a thought.

[ALL RISE]

and...
forget to mention the waiting on the prior authorizations.....
paying premiums for coverage and no medications.....

Not fair...not right....

[Pretty Leaf]

link to what this man forgot to tell Obama or are you a mind reader, you can take a non-generic and pay more or a generic and pay less, simple, they are both the same chemical compounds - that is the way it is with the current system and will be in the public option as well

In my experience they are not the same. I cannot take generic drugs on 3 of my prescriptions, they do not act the same for me.

I had to produce a letter from my doc to the pharmacy and they informed the insurance company. It was no big deal, but I am in Canada. It was a bigger deal when I was in the hosp because the hosp pays for your meds for your stay and they want the cheaper ones..
My doc had to contact hosp doc and instruct them to not use generic.

[incidentally]

In my experience they are not the same. I cannot take generic drugs on 3 of my prescriptions, they do not act the same for me.

I had to produce a letter from my doc to the pharmacy and they informed the insurance company. It was no big deal, but I am in Canada. It was a bigger deal when I was in the hosp because the hosp pays for your meds for your stay and they want the cheaper ones..
My doc had to contact hosp doc and instruct them to not use generic.

*bold mine


ditto.

[bearwds]

In my experience they are not the same. I cannot take generic drugs on 3 of my prescriptions, they do not act the same for me.

I had to produce a letter from my doc to the pharmacy and they informed the insurance company. It was no big deal, but I am in Canada. It was a bigger deal when I was in the hosp because the hosp pays for your meds for your stay and they want the cheaper ones..
My doc had to contact hosp doc and instruct them to not use generic.

************************************

And to my understanding, this is exactly how it would work as Obama said today. The man in question was prescribed a generic which he felt wasn't effective. Medication was changed to proprietary.

Your cost for drugs in Canada is zero, I believe..??

My health plan is pretty good. A 3 month supply posted as $284, costs me $5.00 which includes Priority mailing to home. Physician visits at $15. Labs free.


bear

[drgnrtz]

here in America with our current system you pay much more for non-generic, a lot more, at least with my insurance, glad to hear in Canada with your single payer system it works for you and your doctor is in control, question, do you have to pay more when you decide to go non-generic?

the only thing different between brand name and generic is the name, and the fillers used in manufacturing them. the %s of actual medicinal components are the same. read the labels.

i take lipitor here. now sometimes my pharmacy runs out of the generic equal and i get the brand name. my plan says if available dispense generic, same cost to me 3.49. now if i had to pay out of pocket generic usually cost half of what the brand name.

[juliekan]

In my experience they are not the same. I cannot take generic drugs on 3 of my prescriptions, they do not act the same for me.

I had to produce a letter from my doc to the pharmacy and they informed the insurance company. It was no big deal, but I am in Canada. It was a bigger deal when I was in the hosp because the hosp pays for your meds for your stay and they want the cheaper ones..
My doc had to contact hosp doc and instruct them to not use generic.

In my work as a nurse, it was not uncommon to run across people who did not get the same medicinal effect from generics as from the brand name drugs.

[Mandysmom]

link to what this man forgot to tell Obama or are you a mind reader, you can take a non-generic and pay more or a generic and pay less, simple, they are both the same chemical compounds - that is the way it is with the current system and will be in the public option as well

Not so according to my friend's cardiologist. He said there was not a lot of difference, but just enough for him to request the brand name.

It should be between doctor and patient.

[Pretty Leaf]

************************************

And to my understanding, this is exactly how it would work as Obama said today. The man in question was prescribed a generic which he felt wasn't effective. Medication was changed to proprietary.

Your cost for drugs in Canada is zero, I believe..??
My health plan is pretty good. A 3 month supply posted as $284, costs me $5.00 which includes Priority mailing to home. Physician visits at $15. Labs free.


bear

No, All meds are covered under an individual plan. Mine is employer paying 80% me 20%.

The elderly pay $2. 00 per prescritipion which is a universal gov't plan.
Disabled, who collect social disability benefits are covered under a government plan, I expect much like medicaid plan in US.

Now I am off of work and my employers plan covers 24 months after a disability leave. I am at the end in March. I am not on a social disability plan as my income is too high. In March I can apply for a governement
prescription plan based on income. In my case I will pay $300 quarterly to cover my 100% annual $13,000 meds bill.



Purewell
here in America with our current system you pay much more for non-generic, a lot more, at least with my insurance, glad to hear in Canada with your single payer system it works for you and your doctor is in control, question, do you have to pay more when you decide to go non-generic? 08-11-2009 02:52 PM

Yes you pay more but we are talking very small amount. My 20% for one pill is $5.45 label and 4.50 generic.


I must add that every prescription has a filling fee, billed by pharmacy at around $10.00 a prescription which is added to the drug cost then divided by the 80% cost to employer and the 20% by plan member

[desmom]

interesting

http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/generic.asp

Rite Aid Settles State Lawsuit Over Pharmacy Overcharging
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/30/nyregion/rite-aid-settles-state-lawsuit-over-pharmacy-overcharging.html
In the settlement between the Rite Aid Corporation and the State Division of Consumer Affairs, the company acknowledged that its pharmacists had arbitrarily raised prices for customers not covered by insurance or group discounts.

Pharmacies Gouge on Generics, Class Claims
http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/07/27/Pharmacies_Gouge_on_Generics_Class_Claims.htm
Both CVS and Walgreen's told to the Wall Street Journal in 2007 that they made more from selling generics than brand-name drugs, according to the complaint......Defendants include Target, Kmart, Sears Roebuck, Snyder's Drug Stores, Caremark, and Coborn's.

[snookums1]

I have prescription drug coverage. If there is a generic for what my doctor prescribes, the insurance company will only pay for the generic. And my husband's drug coverage insurance will not pay one red cent for a heart medication that he has to take that costs over a hundred dollars a month. And there is no generic for it.

[IaNsSyAlNuE]

link to what this man forgot to tell Obama or are you a mind reader, you can take a non-generic and pay more or a generic and pay less, simple, they are both the same chemical compounds - that is the way it is with the current system and will be in the public option as well



Generic Synthroid works different than name brand, for my family member.

[IaNsSyAlNuE]

I have no personal experience with the effectiveness of generics vs the name brand. But there is no denying that a large part of the cost of the name brand is funding advertising campaigns, lobbying efforts, obscene executive salaries and benefits, stockholder dividents, corporate jets with gold-plated bathroom fixtures and the usual corporate excesses.

But we can't have Medicare negotiating for lower perscription drug prices can we? Oh, no! Corporate welfare must be preserved!

Generic scripts work different for some, of course there is Corporate greed... there is in Congress as well ---look at the hundred of millions for the Corporate jets they wanted, when lawmakers do it-- others tend to follow suit... :mad:

[snookums1]

Generic Synthroid works different than name brand, for my family member. I have no doubt that is true, but I have insurance and it only pays for the generic so I have no choice but to take generic synthroid or pay the full price myself for the name brand.

[Jumbo1]

link to what this man forgot to tell Obama or are you a mind reader, you can take a non-generic and pay more or a generic and pay less, simple, they are both the same chemical compounds - that is the way it is with the current system and will be in the public option as well

While they may be the same chemicals, they are usually encased in something different than the brand that some people react to.

[Pretty Leaf]

While they may be the same chemicals, they are usually encased in something different than the brand that some people react to.

Exactly. Brand name prescritpions are patentened (sp). So they can not be duplicated. Generics have different compounds although some ingredients are the same but not the whole pill.

[drgnrtz]

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/BuyingUsingMedicineSafely/UnderstandingGenericDrugs/ucm167991.htm

i would think the fda knows what their talking about.

[juliekan]

yes, but sugar pills effect different people differently too, same with some believing a brand name is better then a generic, the "belief" portion of the placebo effect is something that is real to many

One generic drug for tachycardia (rapid heart rate) was a common drug that did not work as well as the name brand, in my experience.

No way the patients "faked" that the generic did not control their heart rate, but the name brand equivalent did.