Other low income customers could get the devices for free. The average price of a two-dose EpiPen package climbed to about $608 earlier this year, up more than 500 percent from around $94 nine years ago, according to the Elsevier Clinical Solutions’ Gold Standard Drug Database.
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Although prices have increased steadily – 15 percent or so every six months – patients are suffering sticker shock now because many have changed to high-deductible plans, in which more medical expenses are paid out-of-pocket.
This has provoked anger from some parents who are confronting the higher prices as they buy the product for their children returning to school.
Manchin responded to the controversy Thursday for the first time, after a growing number of his Senate colleagues and Hillary Clinton, his party’s presidential nominee, criticized Mylan.
The new moves will probably not fully mollify the critics.
“That’s terrible because parents even had difficulty paying for the price they were before the price increase, because if you have a high deductible insurance that leaves a lot of cash out of pocket”, said Reeves.
“Offering a meager discount only after widespread bipartisan criticism is exactly the same tactic used by drug companies across the industry to distract from their exorbitant price increases”, Cummings said in a statement.
Heather Bresch, the Mylan CEO under fire for skyrocketing EpiPen costs, believes Americans should redirect their anger toward a “broken” health care system. And the increase has drawn anger from Congress and from families that have to pay for it.
“If you want to try the generic, you would need to ask your doctor to write for either an epinephrin auto-injector, or Adrenaclick”, said Durda. It is pressed against the thigh and automatically injects the drug. Today consumers must pay $600-$700 for a pack of two. He’s afraid many patients just won’t get their medication. For those patients, using the $300 savings card would cut their costs by half.
The pharmaceutical company will also raise the eligibility for its patient assistance program, meaning that families making up to $97,200 will not face any out of pocket costs. The card effectively reduces patients’ out-of-pocket cost exposure by 50%, the company said.
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Also, the pharmacies at Heritage Valley Health System fill roughly 150 two-pack EpiPen prescriptions each year, he said. She said insurers, pharmacies, prescription benefit managers and distributors divvy up the rest.
