Higher Drug Prices Got You Down? Lower Prescription Costs With These Easy Tips

Published: March 15, 2017, 3:22 p.m.

b"With Dr. Lynne Nowak, M.D., Medical Director for Express Scripts Lab
Managing Your Healthcare Costs
Lynne Nowak, internal medicine MD and Medical Director for Express Scripts Lab, a pharmacy benefit management service, joins Steve to talk about getting a better handle on your healthcare costs, pharmacy benefits, and new information technology that empowers patients. Steve mentions a recent survey which demonstrated that 50% of consumers don't know how to predict their own out-of-pocket healthcare costs, either presently or in the future. It also found that dealing with costs is the most stressful and difficult aspect of managing their healthcare.\\xa0 Furthermore, only 25% of those surveyed had any money saved for healthcare for next year. Dr. Nowak's first piece of advice for people suffering from this kind of uncertainty, lack of information, and fear of out-of-control costs is to delve into their insurance benefits, especially their pharmacy plans since those can be both consistent and expensive. Pharmacy plans can vary a lot, even person by person, so you need to understand the rules in your plan.
Preferred Pharmacy: Lower Drug Costs, Home Delivery
Diving deeper into the prescription drug issue, Dr. Nowak notes that most plans have a pharmacy network and, oftentimes, a preferred pharmacy that the insurer has negotiated better terms with for their customers' benefit.\\xa0 Co-pays through that preferred pharmacy can be significantly cheaper than those that can be found by shopping around at retail pharmacies. Some pharmacy plans offer home delivery, which is not only convenient but also less expensive. Co-pays are again cheaper with this option and a 90-day supply of medication can be delivered instead of the typical 30-day supply.\\xa0 Dr. Nowak mentions that the cost savings are found on both the insurer and patient sides, and home delivery is safer to boot.\\xa0 Speaking of her own company Express Scripts, she adds that the home delivery option doesn't deny patients the ability to shop retail pharmacies.
Despite there being more healthcare information online and through providers, almost half of US consumers have not even logged onto their insurance company's web portal or called in for basic information.\\xa0 Steve wonders whether a near majority of insurance plan holders are in denial about their lack of knowledge of their healthcare benefits.\\xa0 Dr. Nowak argues that it's less about denial than it is about patients not understanding what advantage they can gain from insurers websites and mobile apps. As an example, she describes how the Express Scripts app, which many of their clients (insurers) offer to their customers, allows one to look up the price of a medication before it\\u2019s filled. Comparative prices are shown, and, if the plan works with a preferred pharmacy, the prices/co-pays for that pharmacy are shown as well. Information about generic versions of drugs and their costs are offered in the app as well.\\xa0 Patients would do well to look up this information before their next doctor visit and bring these generic alternatives to the attention of their doctors because it can save them a lot of money. Unsurprisingly, not all apps have the same features and plan agnostic ones like GoodRX only provide retail price comparisons, while those provided by an insurer or pharmacy benefit management service like Express Scripts are able to drill down into pharmacy networks and specific benefits.
Pharmaceutical Companies and Drug Pricing
Steve brings up the topic of certain drug companies charging exorbitant prices for their drugs and wonders how that affects managers of pharmacy benefits. Dr. Nowak explains that instances of blatant profiteering are luckily not as common as one might think but acknowledges that it certainly is a concern for Express Scripts."