It has become increasingly apparent that people, especially seniors need access to affordable, dependable, quality drugs. In recent years, the rising costs of prescription drugs plus inadequate health insurance coverage has caused a serious problem for seniors. This lack of adequate coverage means that many seniors are having to pay for their prescriptions out of their own pockets, causing an understandable hardship, even for those seniors who have planned well for their retirements.
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has expressed a grave concern about the rising costs of seniors' medications. Therefore, he is proposing a prescription pooling program, whereby all 1.5 million of Illinois seniors are invited to participate in a purchasing club. In this club, seniors are to pool their resources together in order to appeal to pharmacies to get them to lower their prices. If all seniors unite to negotiate for lower prices, the pharmacies are expected to be more willing to lower their prices in order to stay in business. Our governor believes that if American seniors are allowed “free access to the market place”, drug prices in Illinois will decrease as much as 20 to 30 percent.
In his proposal letter to the Department of Health and Human Services, our governor has requested them to join him in making the prescription pooling program work by importing drugs from Canada, and he wants permission from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to do this. Our governor feels that one way this might work is through the internet.
Thus far, however, the FDA has been reluctant to permit drug importation from Canada. According to the FDA, they cannot guarantee the “safety” and/or the “legality” of drugs shipped across the border; they have expressed the concern that some of the drugs might be “fake”. Further, they say they cannot assure the “quality” of these drugs, some of which might possibly involve shipments from “third world countries”.
However, our governor says the FDA is being contradictory because he knows that every year for the past ten years, Americans have crossed the border to Canada to buy prescription drugs. He also knows that the FDA is aware of this and have not taken steps to prevent it. Additionally, none of these individuals have been harmed from buying these drugs, which they know are less expensive than those here in America. Our governor believes that the issues of safety and legality raised by the FDA is really a “smoke-screen” to hide their real motivation. He stated that the pharmaceutical companied have a lot of lobbyists in Washington who are working for them. These lobbyists are maintaining the expensive drug prices posed on Americans. Thus, Americans are paying for the huge profits made by the large pharmaceutical companies.
Walgreen's, the nation's largest pharmaceutical company is currently working to alleviate some of the expenses of senior's prescriptions. In conjunction with Medicare and Medicaid, they are offering seniors a discount drug card. The enrollment forms for the card became available in May, and the card offers access to all of Walgreen's 4,000 plus pharmacies in over 40 states.
The program, which just became effective in June, is supposed to offer seniors somewhere between 10 and 25 percent savings on their medications. Seniors who meet certain criteria, (less than $12k for singles and less than $16k for couples) will also be eligible to receive $600 worth of annual credit.
In addition to being the nation's largest pharmacy, Walgreen's is also the most accessible, with many staying open 24 hours a day. Other Walgreen's discount card benefits include: easy transfer of prescriptions among their stores; the most drive-thru stores; mail service; automatic and anytime refill service, including internet and phone service in case of emergencies; and personal health care tips and prescription history. All of these great services and features put Walgreen's in a unique position to offer discounts.
However, one senior I spoke to does not like the discount card. She said seniors have to pay $30.00 per annum to purchase the card, and it is really not worth it, because there is a “catch”. If your medicine changes before the end of the year, the card will not cover the costs. Therefore, you have lost $30.00. (She is currently taking “Lipitor”, a cholesterol medicine which costs between $80 and $90, alone. She further stated that she knows a lot of seniors get together and board a bus to Canada to buy their prescriptions, because as our governor expressed, Canadian drugs are much less expensive.
Another senior I spoke to is also benefiting from Canadian drugs. Her insurance man informed her that he and his wife were getting these drugs. She has been taking them for three weeks, and feels that Canadian drugs are of the same quality as the ones here in Illinois. Thus, she also supports Governor Blagojevich' statements.
For too long American consumers have essentially been supporting the large pharmaceutical companies, while Canadian, French, German and Italian consumers “skate by”. Americans need to enjoy the same privileges as these foreign consumers. Governor Blagojevich has acknowledged that giving American consumers access to this “free market” may create a “see-saw” effect, whereby prices may rise in other countries. However, he still believes that Americans have been treated unfairly.
Governor Blagojevich said Illinois is the first state in the nation to give it's seniors freedom of choice about joining a prescription pooling program. But he feels this is a choice long denied. He has been working with Governor Pawlenty in Washington, and truly feels his prescription pooling “idea will ultimately prevail”.
