Risk & Business Magazine California Fall 2017 | Page 30

PRESCRIPTION COVERAGE
“AS A RESULT, THE COST OF MEDICATIONS IS TWO TO TEN
TIMES MORE EXPENSIVE IN THE UNITED STATES THAN OTHER
TIER 1 COUNTRIES. ”
E
veryone knows that health
costs are rising, but did you
know that the fastest-growing
component of health care is
prescription drug costs? They
are rising out of control, with brand-
name prescriptions skyrocketing at an
annual rate of around 13 percent. The
most popular generic drugs—intended
to save patients money versus brand-
name drugs—have increased 373
percent over the past four years. High-
cost specialty medicines, which account
for 25 percent of total prescription
spend, are predicted to spike to 50
percent by just 2020. For example, drugs
for Hepatitis C cost $1,150 a pill and a
shocking $94,500 for a 12-week course
of treatment.
As employers have been forced to
become more restrictive in their
prescription benefits—raising
employee premiums, deductibles,
and copayments—consequences
for many have become dire. It is not
unusual for employees to skimp on
their medications by taking them less
often, taking them in smaller doses,
or skipping doses altogether. Days or
weeks later, these same patients end
up in hospitals—costing health plans
many times more than was originally
necessary. There is a good reason health
care reform has dominated our political
scene for decades: whether rich or poor,
the situation is simply unsustainable.
You may be surprised to learn that
many other progressive countries—such
as Australia, Canada, New Zealand,
Israel, England, and others—only pay a
fraction of what people in the United
States pay for their prescriptions. In
many instances, pharmaceuticals in
these countries cost 70 to 90 percent less
than when purchased domestically. How
could that be?
People have spent their whole careers
researching this issue, but the simple
answer boils down to competition. Big
Pharma spends more money lobbying
politicians than the oil industry, gas
industry, defense industry, aerospace
industry, and education industry . . .
combined. What Big Pharma wants to
preserve is the status quo—no global
competition for medications. As a result,
the cost of medications is two to ten
times more expensive in the United
States than other Tier 1 countries.
ScriptSourcing works with self-funded
employers who are sick and tired of
spiraling drug prices and are looking
for a less expensive—yet equally
safe—alternative. The truth is that US
employers can have access to these same
medications by purchasing them directly
from local pharmacies in other countries
where they are far less expensive. Started
by Gary Becker, who has consulted
in the benefits consulting field for
over thirty years, ScriptSourcing has
introduced hundreds of self-funded
employers to a better way of fulfilling
their employees’ prescription needs
through outsourcing.
Other than its use of the internet,
ScriptSourcing’s approach has zero
in common with the shady online
pharmacies that dole out prescriptions
illegally. According to a report by the
Center for Safe Internet Pharmacies,
twenty new illegal pharmacies crop
up on the internet each day. The
vast majority of these do not require
prescriptions and may not even employ
pharmacists on staff. It goes without
saying that going this route is extremely
dangerous, and it’s no exaggeration to
warn that counterfeit drugs can lead to
serious problems and even death. The
FDA has been doing its best to clamp
down on these facilities, but it is a
difficult battle to win.
ScriptSourcing goes the complete
opposite route by using the internet
to source authentic medications from
real brick-and-mortar pharmacies
located in Canada, Australia, the United
Kingdom, and New Zealand. All orders
require an authentic prescription signed
by an American doctor and are filled
by registered pharmacists in those
countries—just as they would do for any
Outsourcing Your
Prescription Coverage
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