Prescription drug prices in America are through the roof, and they’re still going up. According to the IMS Institute for Healthcare, consumers spent $374 billion on medicine in the year 2014, which is 13% more than the 2013.
Numerous
patients increasingly wonder for the reason behind rise in price of
prescription drugs in the US. The answer isn’t simple, but there are several
reasons that can explain that why prescription drugs are expensive. A few of
the reasons are listed below:
Lengthy patents
Patents
last longer in America than in other countries. Patents usually offer uniqueness
to the drugs of drug makers, which prevent competition for 20 years after
getting patent. Drug makers need to fill patents while drugs are under testing
and the clock starts before the drug goes on sale.
Generally,
a new drug takes couple of years to win trust of consumers, which increases
their price at least by 5% every year. These increases add up and become bigger
as the expiration period of the patent approaches.
Development costs
Research
is getting expensive day by day. It takes about $1 billion to get a new drug approved;
this also includes the development cost of many drugs that don't work out. Now
drugs are produced by using living cells under precise conditions i.e.,
biologics, which costs more than mixing chemicals to make pills.
Fewer new generics
The number of popular drugs going
off patent has declined after huge number of patent expirations from the year
2011 – 2013. This has contributed to rise of medicine prices in the US.
How you can save your money on prescription drugs?
As the price of prescription drugs is touching the sky, you can follow these tips to save your money on your prescription drugs.
- Use Generic Prescription Drugs – If your doctor prescribes you a prescription drug for your illness, ask him about alternative generic medication. Generic drugs have same effect, active ingredient, same dosage and more as that of original drug. These drugs help you save up to 80% on your medications. All of the generic drugs are approved by FDA which means they are completely safe.
- Buy 60 or 90-day drug supply – People experiencing chronic conditions, like blood pressure, depression, and pain, etc. can prefer buying 60 or 90 days’ worth of drug supply in one go to save their money.
- Discount Cards - You can also use Rx discount cards to save your money. They can help you save up to 80% on your prescription drugs. For free Rx carddownload, you can visit various websites that offer discount cards. These cards help you to get discount on both generic as well as brand-name prescription drugs. These cards are acceptable at more than 60,000 pharmacies nationwide!
- Store your medications properly – Saving your medications properly will also help you to save your money. Avoid storing your medications at extremely hot and damp places to make sure that they don’t go bad. Read drug labels properly to know that where and at which temperature you can store your medications.
