Prescription Drug Costs Up
According to a recent AARP study, brand-name prescription drug prices have climbed at twice the rate of inflation during the 12 months ending in June 2005 (6.1% vs. 3.0%). The good news here (if there is any) is that this increase was slightly below the 7.1% and 7.0% increases in the previous two years. The drug that experienced the largest price increase was the emphysema drug Atrovent, which soared 18% (from $2.12/day to $2.51/day). The sleep aid Ambien was a close second, increasing 14% (from $2.19/day to $2.50/day). In contrast, generic drug prices are reported to have risen just 1% over the same time period. This is just further evidence that you should be using generic drugs whenever possible.
[Source: USA Today]
Published on November 4th, 2005 - 3 Comments
Filed under: Economy, Insurance
email this article
- add to tip'd - stumble it - digg it - bookmark it
About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!
Related articles...
» Money Moves for 2006, Part 4: Your Health» How to Save Money on Prescription Drugs
» Ten New Money Scams, Part 2
» Save on Medical Care – Part III
» ‘Tis the Season
» Mortgage Fees: What’s Legit and What Isn’t
» Upromise $10 Signup Bonus
» More Thoughts About Refinancing Our Mortgage
Was this article useful? Please sign up to receive our content via e-mail:
Great deals...
Readers’ choice...
Recent articles...
- Did Congress Make the Homebuyer Tax Credit Retroactive?
- Congress Extends $8000 Homebuyer Tax Credit, Adds New $6500 Credit
- Lending Club Update - October 2009 Performance
- How Much to Budget for Car Maintenance?
- Series I Savings Bonds Now Paying 3.36%
- Use Weight Loss Strategies to Get Out of Debt
- Weekly Roundup - Disney Shanghai Edition
- How to Save Money on Vacations
- Most and Least Reliable Cars - 2009 Edition
- Get 100 Free Trades from OptionsHouse Brokerage
Recent comments...
- Penny: I am about to purchase a new home.. which will be my new residence...
- APRIL DAYS: I FOR ONE HOPE THAT THE FIRST TIME HOMEOWNERS TAX CREDIT IS EXTENDED BECAUSE...
- JB: I drive a 1999 car and save $60 a month for car repairs, oil...
- Greta: My significant other and I bought a house in February 2009. My boyfriend...
- Jay: Don't forget nCleaner 2nd for turning off widows firewall and windows defender...also use the...
- Bryan: @Doug - you said it... if you simply delayed the closing, it would have...
- Sympathetic Dish TSR: @ Bonnie: Is your HD tv a Flatscreen LCD style? If so then a...
- John DeFlumeri Jr: Thanks for explaining the tax credit. Too bad for those who purchase in...
Most talked about...
- Dave Ramsey is Bad at Math
- $8,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit
- Dish Network Customer Service SUCKS
- How to Claim the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit
- $15,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit
- Reduced Credit Limits? Share Your Experience
- Would the "Fair Tax" Gut the Economy?
- Tax Stimulus Rebate Payments to Start Early
- Pay Off Mortgage Early? Or Invest?
- The Best Online Savings Accounts (Updated!)
- Life's Too Short to Drink Cheap Beer
- $7500 First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit
I use Lunesta, which is a sleep aid like Ambien, and the price for it has gone up as well. While easy to blame big-pharma, the tremendous “red-tape” that they must get through to get a drug to market often leads to higher and higher drug prices. Whenever you bring in govt oversight (FDA) then you will increase the cost of producing a good. Catch 22. Do we want “safer” meds, or “cheaper” meds. Difficult, sticky situation…
Comment by ncnblog — Nov 4th 2005 @ 11:11 amgood post,
ncnblog.com
Ok, I think the price of health care has gone from a necessity to a luxury. It’s rather astronomical. Many of you know my step-father’s now gotten a mechanical heart, a Heartmate model 1. He’s not done so well with it, and the doctors have given him different kinds of medication, and one that they recently prescribed my mother attempted to purchase, and discovered the price tag was $1700. What’s a person supposed to do?
Comment by Joshua K — Nov 6th 2005 @ 2:45 amYou can also do research on certain drugs at crbestbuydrugs.org which is run by the non profit organization that publishes Consumer Reports magazine. Just like they do with cars, appliances and other gadgets, the evaluate different types of prescription medicines on effectiveness, safety and cost.
Comment by SavingAdvice — Nov 14th 2005 @ 9:54 pm