Co-Payments for Expensive Drugs Soar

In ophthalmology, this exact scenario is faced by patients who have to pay 400$ co-pays for Lucentis for Macular Degneration. Fortunately, we have an excellent alternative in Avastin--the total cost of which is less than 50.00 total (vs Lucentis at >2000.00$).


Health insurance companies are rapidly adopting a new pricing system for very expensive drugs, asking patients to pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars for prescriptions for medications that may save their lives or slow the progress of serious diseases.

With the new pricing system, insurers abandoned the traditional arrangement that has patients pay a fixed amount, like $10, $20 or $30 for a prescription, no matter what the drug’s actual cost. Instead, they are charging patients a percentage of the cost of certain high-priced drugs, usually 20 to 33 percent, which can amount to thousands of dollars a month.

The system means that the burden of expensive health care can now affect insured people, too.
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But the result is that patients may have to spend more for a drug than they pay for their mortgages, more, in some cases, than their monthly incomes.