The largest drug-savings platform in America, Blink Health, has launched a program to give patients with type 2 diabetes a free supply of three of the most prescribed antidiabetic medications for a full year, or until the $10 million allotted to the plan is used up, a company press release indicates.
The #TreatType2 project will cover the top three generic medications prescribed for type 2 diabetes in the United States — metformin, glipizide, and pioglitazone.
“We have seen far too many people who are struggling to afford a prescription medication, and we’ve launched this program to help address the problem one patient at a time,” Geoffrey Chaiken, cofounder and chief executive officer of Blink Health, said in the statement.
“Blink Health is committed to doing all it can to help patients manage this chronic illness,” he added.
The program was announced by the company on June 7, 2017.
Other Programs Offer Discounts on Drugs
Blink Health is not the only firm to help US patients cope with the high cost of prescription medication. For example, several pharmaceutical companies proffer discount drug cards to consumers that they can take to any pharmacy and use to get money off the standard price of a prescription medication, according to the Food and Drug Administration’s website.
Most major pharmaceutical companies also offer patient-assistance programs that make prescription medications more affordable for those in need, according to the same website. For example, Merck offers discounts of 15% to 40% on many of the company’s drugs to uninsured patients, regardless of age or income.
And Biogen has had a copayment program that caps patient’s payment for their multiple sclerosis drug, dimethyl fumarate, at $10 per month — less than 1% of its actual cost, according to David Howard, PhD (N Engl J Med. 2014; 371:97-99).
Dr Howard also notes that over 300 drugs have patient-assistance programs and industry spends approximately $4 billion a year on them.
Among the top-selling specialty drugs that have had industry-backed programs that have made them more affordable are rituximab, infliximab, trastuzumab, efavirenz, and interferon beta 1A, as Dr Howard cites.
And as previously reported by Medscape Medical News organizations such as the for-profit GoodRx provide discount coupons for consumers to lower prescription drug costs while others, such as nonprofit NeedyMeds.org, offer discount cards as well.
Diabetes Patients Have Double the Healthcare Costs of Others
Blink Health is a for-profit company and searches online for the cheapest price of a prescription drug and then locks it in for patients.
For its new diabetes drug program, the company is offering to give patients with a prescription for metformin, glipizide, or pioglitazone a year’s supply for free or until funds for the program run out.
Patients will be required to create an account on Blink Health’s website or mobile app before they are eligible to participate in the program. There is no cost to join Blink Health and the #TreattType2 program is open to any patient with a prescription for any, or all, of these three medications.
Prescriptions can be picked up at Walmart, CVS, Rite-Aid, and Target pharmacies across the county as well as most independent pharmacies and grocery stories.
According to the press release, the $10-million commitment made by Blink Health to the program is based on the company’s cost to purchase these medications and represents a saving of up to $80 million to patients, based on the US retail prices of these medications for 1 year.
It’s estimated that healthcare costs are over two times higher, on average, for patients with diabetes than for people without the condition.
The new $10-million diabetes drug program is only one aspect of Blink Health’s efforts to make care more affordable for people with diabetes, it says.
In 2016, Blink Health announced an insulin discount program in partnership with Eli Lilly, in which a variety of the company’s insulin products are now available to patients at a 40% discount.
“The more people who join the Blink Health Nation, the better our overall discounts will be,” Mr Chaiken added.
Registration for the new Blink Health program will close by September 12, 2017.
However, it will end before this date if members sign up for more than $10 million of the medications covered by the program.
Patients interested in the #TreatType2 program can call 855-776-0404 or email: info@blinkhealth.com.
The program is supported by Blink Health.
For more diabetes and endocrinology news, follow us on Twitter and on Facebook.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar