Sticker-shock prescriptions

The widening income gap also decides who can get prescription drugs, by default. Anyone can get them . . . if they can afford the co-pay..

That’s no problem for Warren Buffett. But for others, it’s not that easy.

For example, Stelara for a disabling form of psoriasis, is $1,578 for each of four injections, or $6,312 for a year’s shots. For starters. Later, the patient’s cost soared to $2,728 per inoculation.

Soliris, which treats life-threatening blood diseases, costs $440,000 a year. For Warren Buffett, pocket change. For the rest of us, unaffordable.

Sovaldi, the best drug for hepatitis C, costs $84,000 for the recommended 12-week treatment. Warren Buffett, we aren’t. Even with co-pays, that can run $16,000.

All these are labeled specialty drugs, which are expected to cost Americans and their insurers $400 BILLION by 2020.

10 top-selling specialty drugs:

1. Humira, for inflammatory conditions.

2. Enbrel, for inflammatory conditions.

3. Copazone, for multiple schleroris (MS).

4. Atripia, for HIV treatments.

5. Revlimid, for cancer.

6. Gleevec, for cancer.

7. Enoxaparin, for blood clotting.

8. Rebif, for MS.

9. Avonex, for MS.

10.          Gilenya, for MS.

The article is in the January-February 2015 issue of the AARP Bulletin.

Read it and weep.

Think Pink. And think again.

Don’t just Think Pink. Think about whether your money will go into breast cancer research.

Buying pink merchandise in October is not a guarantee that your purchase will help the fight against breast cancer. Look for products that name a specific charity.

Just donate directly to an organization like Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), National Breast Cancer Foundation, BreastCancerFund.org. or the American Cancer Society.

For the entire article, click on http://cuyahogafalls.patch.com/groups/breast-cancer-awareness/p/the-pinksploitation-of-breast-cancer-awareness-month-cuyahogafalls?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001&evar4=picks-1-post&newsRef=true

 

Cleveland, Cincinnati among top hospitals for safety

Cleveland University Hospitals Case Medical Center and Cincinnati Christ Hospital are the only Ohio hospitals listed among the top hospitals for safety, according to Leapfrog Group, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit.

There are 66 hospitals on the list.

To read the AARP the Magazine special health issue article and the list of America's safest hospitals, click on  http://pubs.aarp.org/aarptm/20130405_PR?folio=46#pg50

This will take you to page 48. Go to the top of the screen, in the middle where you'll see 48 / 84, and click on the down arrow between 48 and 84 and then click on 49 to see the next page of the safe hospitals list.

Regina Brett to Angelina Jolie: Crazy Smart

Angelina Jolie

PD & former BJ columnist Regina Brett, who had both her breasts removed to substantially reduce her risk of cancer, applauds actress Angelina Jolie's decision to do the same thing as "crazy smart."

Regina and her daughter Gabrielle had both their breasts removed. So did Regina's sister, Patricia. Angelina opted for reconstructive breast surgery. Regina instead got prostethetic breasts that fit into her bra. Her daughter did neither.

All four women have a gene that means they have an 87% chance of developing breast cancer. Removing their breasts reduces the chances to 5%. 

To read Regina's PD column about her reaction to Angelina's decision, click on  http://www.cleveland.com/brett/blog/index.ssf/2013/05/angelina_jolies_decision_to_ha.html

It wasn't mentioned by Regina or in Angelina stories, but it should be: 99% of women don't have the BRCA1 mutation that both women have. So breast removal is an unnecessary action for all but 1% of women.

To read about the 99%, click on http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/17/opinion/welch-jolie-mastectomy/?iref=obnetwork

Lawsuit medical coverage cards arriving in the mail

Membership cards for United Healthcare AARP Medicare Supplement Plan N, which will restore printer and Guild retirees to their approximate retirement-day medical coverage, are arriving in the mail for the 50 people who will benefit from the successful healthcare lawsuit against the Beacon Journal.

The $2 and $5 co-pay cards from Medical Mutual of Ohio, which will be handling the prescriptions, arrived earlier.  

Both prescription and medical coverage will be restored to approximate retirement-day levels, beginning Jan. 1, 2013.

As an example of how much the 50 retirees may benefit:

Olesky paid $1,285.83 for his medical costs in 2012, but would have paid about $600 under Plan N for a difference of $685.83. If Olesky hit his average of paying $3,407.78 per year in medical costs for the 2005-2012 period covered by the reimbursement agreement, he would save about $2,800 a year in medical costs to go with the projected $2,700 in savings from the $2 prescription co-pay card for a combined projected total of about $5,500. Others benefitting from the lawsuit may save even more.

BJ Settlement Administrator Roger Messmore, who has been at the Beacon for 32 years in Human Resources, is handling the reimbursement claims for extra medical and prescription expenses from a $100,000 fund. If the total exceeds $100,000, which is not expected, then the reimbursements would be pro-rated.

Those checks have not been received yet.

Forty-five retired printers and their spouses are eligible.

They are Dave and Gina White, of Venice, Florida, who began the lawsuit on behalf of the printers; Bob and Linda Abbott, Massillon (Bob pursued relief informally on his own before he joined the Whites’ lawsuit); Ruth and Tom West, Rittman; Hugh and Sharon Downing, The Villages, Florida; Larnie and Stephanie Greene, Hartville; Joe Catalano, Akron; Lloyd and Claudine Bigelow, Cuyahoga Falls; John Costello, Akron; Dick Gresock, Medina; Henry and Kathleen Heinbuck, North Canton; Denzil Parker, Wadsworth; Francis and Rita Reeves, Akron; Bob Walker, Medina; Cecil and Josephine Santaferro, Akron; Sid Sprague, Loveland, Colorado; Isabel Watson (Blanton’s widow), Naples, Florida; Janice Hogg (Trammel’s widow), Waynesville, North Carolina; Russ and Martel Bendel, Wadsworth; Eunice and Bonnie Collins, Copley; Richard and Patricia Fair, Akron; Marjorie Hanna, Wadsworth; Ed Hanzel, Barberton; Bob Kendall, Berlin Center; Harriet Ledbetter, Canton; Norm and Naomi Mattern, Wellsville; Charles O’Neill, Akron; Fred Pollack, Akron; Don Reppart, North Canton; Ron Sanderlin, Canton; Charles Stadelman, Tallmadge; and Ray and Amaryllis Wolfe, Greentown.

Five Guild retirees and a spouse are eligible for the settlement, which depended on the wording in retirement letters.

They are John Olesky, of Tallmadge, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Guild retirees in 2009; retired reporter Dick McBane, Lilburn, Georgia; maintenance retiree Harold Bailey and wife Elizabeth, Kent; copy desk retiree Dick McLinden, North Canton, and retired photographer Don Roese, Cuyahoga Falls.

U.S. Federal District Court Judge David Dowd approved the settlement Nov. 9.

In early 2007, shortly after Canadian media mogul David Black's Black Press acquired the Beacon Journal, the newspaper switched healthcare coverage plans and drastically reduced these retirees' benefits. 

That sparked a reaction among Guild and printer retirees that led to the successful lawsuits. 

Myths about Obamacare

MYTH 1: The new law cuts Medicare drastically, so I won't be able to get quality health care.

The Affordable Care Act prohibits cuts to guaranteed Medicare benefits. Provisions to help curb the soaring costs of Medicare include taxing high-premium plans (beginning in  2018), cracking down on fraud and waste, and preventive care to avert chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes, which cost billions. 

By 2020 the law closes the Medicare Part D prescription drug "doughnut hole," in which Medicare beneficiaries pay full price for prescription drugs after exceeding a dollar limit each year. There will be ever-increasing discounts till 2020.

MYTH 2: Medicare Advantage plans will be cut or taken away.

The Affordable Care Act, referred to as Obamacare by critics, does not eliminate Medicare Advantage plans, which are privately administered but cost taxpayers 14 percent more per enrollee than the traditional Medicare program. 

MYTH 3: I'll have to wait longer to see my doctor — or I won't be able to see my doctor at all.

"If your current plan allows you to see any physician in the plan, nothing will change," says Shana Alex Lavarreda,  director of health insurance studies at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

MYTH 4: If I have Medicare, I will need to get more or different insurance.

Stuart Guterman, vice president of the Commonwealth Fund, said "Medicare beneficiaries will continue to have Medicare, and there's no requirement that they get additional coverage beyond what they already have."

To read the full article by Beth Howard in the September 2012 AARP The Magazine, click on http://www.aarp.org/health/health-insurance/info-09-2012/medicare-and-health-care-reform-myths.html

Drug giants pay other firms to keep generics off the market

The pharmaceutical giants’ tactic of paying other  companies to delay the introduction of generic drugs into the market costs patients an estimated $3.5 billion a year.

The brand-name drugs rake in much more money when there are no equivalent generics on the market.

I sometimes get generic equivalents for some of my prescription drugs through Canada because they have been kept off the market in the United States. The cost through Canada has been as much as one-fourth the tab  for the same brand-name drug in the United States.

According to the attached article in the September 2012 issue of the AARP Bulletin, one federal appeals court ruled the pay-to-delay strategy anti-competitive. Since three other appeals courts have ruled them legal, the issue probably will wind up in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, you’ll continue to pay more for brand-name drugs because the pharmacy giants are paying other companies to keep the generic equivalent off the market.