I have not blogged in a while. Not that I don't have things to say or comments about the allergy world, but it's a time issue. Honestly I should make time. Blogging can be therapeutic and very powerful. I hope I have an audience today because I have a lot to say.
EpiPens are non-negotiable items at my house. Molly has used them on more occasions that I'd like to remember. You can't really put a price on the life saving medication epinephrine.
Unfortunately, companies like Mylan know that most parents of children who need an EpiPen are going to be buying them regardless of cost. I know as a mom of a child who has had anaphylactic reactions in the past, we will have a minimum of two- regardless of cost. They have us. We have no choice. Which brings me to my other points:
There is no competition for EpiPen. Since Auvi-Q is no longer on the market, there is little incentive for Mylan to even try to have competitive pricing. I guess there is an auto injector called Adrenaclick. The problem with this, is if you have a child in school they may not be as familiar with this. The thing I loved about Auvi-Q is that it was idiot-proof. Even if you weren't familiar with it, it talked you through it. This made it more user friendly and people were more comfortable with the idea of sticking my kid. I don't know about you, but as the mom of a food allergic kid, I want the adults my kid is around to be comfortable with using her auto-injector device so they will use it if there is an emergency situation. EpiPen advertises more than Adrenaclick, people know what an EpiPen is and what it is used for. In schools, that is what the nurse trains staff with. EpiPen is the brand people are MOST familiar with and are more comfortable using.
Next, I want people to understand that we don't buy just one EpiPen. They come 2 pens to pak- in case one doesn't work or you need another shot of epinephrine before EMS arrives. Most families actually need to buy multiple paks. Molly's school requires that she has 2 in the nurse's office, Molly carries 2 on her at all times and I have a back up pak at home in case she uses one. It isn't unusual for the pharmacy to take 24 hours to get new EpiPens, due to issues with expiration dates. That is 3 paks we have at all times. The going rate that I'm hearing is $600 as pak. That's $1800 a year minimum- more if we have to use one or if they have an expiration date less than a year from the time of purchase (usually if this occurs I have the pharmacy send it back for one with a better expiration date)
Now that we are talking about the cost of the Epi-Pen, insurance comes into play. We for example have a high deductible plan- we are fully responsible for the first $2600. Luckily, Matt's employer puts $2500 into our Health Savings Account in addition to what we put into it. After we meet the deductible we pay 20-50% of prescription cost. We have also had issues with the deductible and using coupons in the past- essentially with insurance saying it can't count towards the deductible if we use a discount- any of it. It's been hit and miss- sometimes it's okay sometimes it's not okay. It's kind of a nightmare. We have been on insurance plans previously that medications were not included in our deductible or out of pocket maximum- kind of like prescriptions were it's own little benefit group. That was super expensive. I have also had the insurance company argue with me about getting more than one epi-pen set at a time. This is super super frustrating. Molly's pediatrician now writes the prescription for 3 paks of EpiPens- one for home, one for school and one for child care with one refill. They do not seem to question this.
Now that I've mentioned the coupon, up until today I believe they only covered up to a $100 co-pay amount. That means if you have a high deductible plan, you are more than likely going to be paying $500 for one pak. I read today that they have increased the amount to $300 but that still means you will be paying $300 for one pak...
So- what is the answer? I'm not sure. We actually switched to Auvi-Q (no longer available) when it came out because our prescription plan paid a better percentage for it than the EpiPen. Now that I feel like we have no choice but to use EpiPen, I want to know why the cost has gone up. The CEO gave several reasons today when she announced the extension of the assistance program and $300 coupon, but none of them were really specific. I felt like I was getting excuses as to why Mylan is exorbitantly profiting off of a life saving drug.
Which brings me to my next point. Why are we allowing drug companies to make ridiculous profits on life saving medications? When did this become okay? Mylan knows that parents and anyone with a life threatening allergy are going to buy this product- actually they know better than anyone- how many of these products we are going to buy- because let's face it- at a minimum you will have two paks of EpiPens for a school aged child. They know they have almost no competition. This puts them in a position of power.
This is my challenge to Mylan: DO THE RIGHT THING. Use your power for good. Either lower your price or give consumers proper documentation of reasons for the sky-rocketing price increase. You wanted to blame it a broken health care system- give us specifics so we can encourage our legislators to fix it. Help us, help you.
And lastly, this is not the first time in the last year that a pharmaceutical company has raised drug prices an exorbitant amount with no reason really given(HIV drugs and antivirals). Healthcare should not be a for profit business. I understand that nothing is for free, but healthcare companies and pharmaceuticals should not be profiting while the American people are struggling to pay for life saving non-negotiable-gotta have it medications and services. Talk to legislators and lawmakers- lobby and advocate for your own healthcare interest because you know that Mylan and other pharmaceutical companies are! This included voting- I don't care who you vote for just VOTE!
Excuse me while I step off my soapbox now and get back to my very busy day.
