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Even if you are not a senior or you are fit-as-a-fiddle and never use any prescription drugs (and really who doesn’t these days?), I’m sure that you see those drug ads on TV every day that talk about “patient assistance” for the cost of their brand name drugs. If you need help paying for them, it sounds like a real winner for you.
On the surface, that sounds like a great idea especially if you need that specific drug and can’t afford the usually high price or worse, you have no coverage for it at all.
Patient assistance programs offset patients’ out-of-pocket drug costs, typically on generous terms. Biogen’s program for its multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate), for example, caps patients’ copayments at $10 per month, less than 1% of the total cost of the drug. I myself participate in “My AbbVie Assist”, a program that allows me to get my thyroid medicine totally free.
Patient assistance programs are reliable methods for reducing healthcare costs. But it also sets the interests of insurers at odds with the interests of healthcare providers and drug and device manufacturers. Pharmaceutical manufacturers attempt to limit impact of copayments and coinsurance with the funding of patient assistance programs.
According to industry sources, more than 300 drugs have associated patient assistance programs, and manufacturers spend about $4 billion per year on these programs. Many of these programs have no or generous income limits, even for patients with incomes of more than $100,000.
But often, even for those who normally can afford a drug, assisted drugs are financial killers even while being life savers. That is because it gives the manufacturers enormous influence and power.
With Medicare and the new “Inflation Reduction Act” just signed into law this week, drug prices may be coming down (although it may take until 2026 before anyone actually benefits from it). Negotiating Medicare prices is a very good thing for us, but the drug companies have been opposed to that for decades.
The drug companies are not motivated simply to aid those who need the financial help. Assistance programs are a huge boon for manufacturers. That’s because it increases the demand, allows them to charge higher prices, and provides serious public-relations benefits. Some patients may decide against taking an expensive medication, but the patient assistance program may eventually convert such patients from non-users to users.
Medicare takes a dim view of efforts to subsidize patients’ out-of-pocket costs. They worry that patient assistance programs discourage patients from using generic drugs and other less costly alternatives to new, patent-protected therapies.
But as you know, some high-cost drugs have no generic equivalents or substitutes. In those cases, assistance programs help offer therapies that improve standards of care.
When finances dictate and/or the availability of a specific drug or therapeutic matters, then the bottom line is that if you don’t at least look at these programs and drugs, you may be making a life-altering mistake. For more ways to save on prescription drugs, check out my recent post.
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Over the years, we’ve heard a lot about trying to eat healthier, and eating veggies and fruit is often touted as one surefire way to do that. But let’s be honest here. Living in the good old U.S.A, eating meat is the primary way that we dine and that starts when you are just a child. Perhaps you remember the old commercials…“Beef, it’s what’s for dinner”. Hamburgers and hot dogs are our go-to foods and red meat is our primary preferred way to dine. At least that has been my observation over the last 70 years.
But these days, during high inflation, vegetarianism is growing particularly among non-whites, and there may be some good reasons for everyone to at least consider it. One of those reasons is this: becoming a vegetarian can actually save you money!
How Many Vegetarians Are There in the U.S.?
The numbers of Americans who are vegetarians is not a big number, particularly among older whites.
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The subject of financial need and the stress it brings may be a topic that some personal finance blogs shy away from. It seems that many PF bloggers are concerned more about the folks that have money now and want even more of it (doesn’t everyone really?). The idea is that if you take some specific action(s), you can get rich fairly quickly and retire at age 30 or 40…and maybe you can do that. But what about the other side of life? What if you’re thinking “I can’t pay my bills!”? So you can’t pay your bills…what can you do?
Many people have been financially crushed and even more so during and after the pandemic. What about those who just need help when they can’t pay their basic bills?
Where Can You Turn to Get Help with Money?
Assuming you have exhausted the simple resources, like you asked your Mom and Dad and your Uncle Fred in Cleveland for help and it just wasn’t in the cards, what do you do next?
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Super Saving Tip of the Week:
Because the cost of food these days is so scary, I thought I’d give some good news for grocery shopping this month.
Breakfast foods, the foods that make up “the most important meal of the day”, will be a little cheaper this month. Why? Frozen waffles, bagels, cold cereals, oatmeal, juices, and more will be on sale this month.
Now that “back to school” time is around the corner, stock up on lunch-sized things on sale this month (with coupons too!). Look for low prices on boxed/pouch juices, snack size chips, and crackers with peanut butter.
Best of all, fresh healthy fruits and veggies (many locally grown) are at their peak and cheapest of the year too. These include apples, berries like blueberries and strawberries, broccoli, cherries, corn, cucumbers, fennel, grapes, melons, watermelon, peaches, nectarines, peppers (chili and sweet), summer squash, zucchini, tomatoes, and onions.
Buy only what you use and waste not. You can always go back again and restock, at least until Labor Day!
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