prescription drug costs

Here are the first 10 drugs that Medicare will target for price cuts

4:32pm August 29, 2023

The government will negotiate new prices for the commonly prescribed drugs, but the cuts won't take effect until 2026. In the meantime, drugmakers are fighting the negotiations with lawsuits.

Retiree Donna Weiner shows some of the daily prescription medications for which she pays more than $6,000 per year through a Medicare prescription drug plan. She supports giving Medicare authority to negotiate drug prices.

Drug plan prices touted during Medicare open enrollment can rise within a month

9:28am May 03, 2022

by Susan Jaffe

Even the savviest Medicare drug plan shoppers can get a shock when they fill prescriptions: That great deal on medications in fall is no bargain after prices go up as much as 8% by winter.

Billionaire Mark Cuban launches online pharmacy aimed at lowering generic drug prices

6:02pm January 24, 2022

by Joe Hernandez

The pharmacy says it will bypass health care industry "middlemen" and help consumers avoid high drug prices by charging manufacturers' prices plus a flat 15% markup and pharmacist fee.

Canadian Minister of Health Patty Hajdu, pictured in 2016, announced a new rule in response to a U.S. plan to import drugs from Canada.

Canada Blocks Export Of Medications In Short Supply In Response To Trump Plan

8:06pm November 29, 2020

by Matthew S. Schwartz

The move comes just days before a U.S. rule was set to go into effect allowing for bulk importation of drugs from Canada. Trump promised it would lower costs and be a "game changer" for seniors.

President Trump delivers remarks on lowering insulin costs for seniors with diabetes on Thursday at the White House.

Trump Unveils Plan To Cap Insulin Costs For Seniors, Takes Jabs At Biden

6:24pm May 26, 2020

by Ayesha Rascoe

Some polls show Trump's support slipping among seniors. His new plan will help diabetic seniors limit insulin costs to $35 per month, starting next year.

The House voted to pass Speaker Nancy Pelosi's prescription drug bill. The plan proposes, among other things, allowing Medicare to negotiate prices with drugmakers for some drugs.

Health & Safety

The House Just Passed Its Prescription Drug Plan — Here's What's In It

4:36pm December 12, 2019

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

Lawmakers Thursday passed a bill to rein in drug costs. President Trump has vowed to veto it. But the plan shares a lot with other bipartisan efforts. Here's how it would work.

A pharmacist collects packets of boxed medication from the shelves of a pharmacy in London, U.K. A proposal announced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Thursday would allow the government to directly negotiate the price of 250 U.S. drugs, using what the drugs

Health & Safety

How An 'International Price Index' Might Help Reduce Drug Prices

5:28pm September 19, 2019

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

Drugmakers hate the idea. But Nancy Pelosi and Donald Trump both say pegging the prices of U.S. medicine to what people elsewhere pay could save U.S. patients a bundle. Here's how an "IPI" might work.

Why Competition Hasn't Brought Down The High Price Of Snakebite Treatment

2:37pm August 08, 2019

by Carmen Heredia Rodriguez

The snakebite antivenin CroFab, on the U.S. market since 2000, now faces competition from a drug called Anavip. But both are expensive. "Perverse incentives" keep prices high, says one legal scholar.

Plump red blood cells — tumbling amid infection-fighting white blood cells and purple platelets in this colorized, microscopic view — need adequate levels of iron to be able to carry and deliver oxygen around the body. Iron-deficiency anemia is someti

Health & Safety

$2,733 To Treat Iron-Poor Blood? Iron Infusions For Anemia Under Scrutiny

3:39pm August 01, 2019

by Shefali Luthra

Iron-deficiency anemia is often remedied with drugstore iron pills. But if that doesn't work, doctors sometimes prescribe iron infusions — and the bill for that can vary by thousands of dollars. Why?

Physicians complain that there's not yet a standard drug-pricing tool available to them that includes the range of medicine prices each of their patients might face — one that takes into account their particular pharmacy choice and health insurance plan

Health & Safety

Doctors Slow To Adopt Tech Tools That Might Save Patients Money On Drugs

10:14am July 05, 2019

by Phil Galewitz

A pricing tool embedded in many prescribing and medical records systems lets doctors see how much each patient is likely to pay out of pocket for medicine. But the tools could be better, doctors say.