New Drug Cards Cost $30, A Sham At Saving Money

Buying in Canada cheaper, buying online cheaper, the Federal government programs pay less.

A selection of a one month supply of each of the ten [most popular] drugs purchased in Canada would cost $596. The prices for the same drugs from the three drug cards are at least $972 with the Walgreens card, at least $1,046 with the RxSavings card, and at least $1,061 with the Pharmacy Care Alliance Card. The average price for the drugs from the three drug cards is $1,026, $430 more than in Canada. In percentage terms, the average drug card prices are 72% greater than the Canadian prices.

It is even slightly cheaper to buy online without the card, pdf file.

Analysis of the pricing data for several national drug cards indicates that the prices offered by these cards are even higher than other prices currently available to Medicare beneficiaries, such as Drugstore.com or Costco.com.

A selection of each of the ten best selling name brand drugs for seniors would cost seniors at least $972 with the Walgreens card, at least $1,046 with the RxSavings card, and at least $1,061 with the Pharmacy Care Alliance card,. But the same market basket of drugs is less expensive at Drugstore.com. The ten drugs cost $959 at Drugstore.com. And the drugs cost $990 at Costco.com — with no annual fees.

The prices offered by the new Medicare drug cards are also significantly higher than the prices paid by the Federal Government under the Federal Supply Schedule (FSS). These FSS prices are indicative of the prices available when the federal government negotiates on behalf of payers for a low price. The market basket of ten drugs purchased via the Federal Supply Schedule would cost only $587, compared to an average cost of $1,026 with the new drug cards. This means that the average price that beneficiaries pay with the three Medicare discount cards is 75% higher than the FSS prices.

Medicare Drug Cards A Sham

The Bush administration's new Medicare drug card plan is more like a shell game than a savings program. Instead of reducing drug costs for seniors, the new plan may actually force seniors to pay more for drugs. Even worse, once seniors enroll in one of 40 national or 33 regional drug card plans they can't switch cards until 2005, yet corporations are free to shift prices up or down every week.