Mylan NV said on Thursday, Aug. 25, it would reduce the out-of-pocket cost of its severe allergy treatment EpiPen through a discount program, a day after Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton joined lawmakers in criticizing the drug’s high price.
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The drug that originally cost around $100 in 2009 made its way to around $600 this year. “Lock up as much business as you can”, said Douglas Holtz-Eakin of the Center for Health and the Economy.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, said in a statement Thursday, “I’m exhausted of playing whack-a-mole with these pharmaceutical companies that are grabbing obscene profits while they have a monopoly”. “I am not hiding from that”.
Durda said the savings will depend on your insurance company and the pharmacy that you use.
In her defense of the price increase, Bresch said, “No one’s more frustrated than me”.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.
“I look forward to reviewing their response in detail and working with my colleagues and all interested parties to lower the price of prescription drugs and to continue to improve our health care system”.
Mylan declined to comment when asked to explain the price hike.
Mylan CEO Heather Bresch said the controversy of the EpiPen costs points toward a bigger problem.
Responding to a growing furor from consumers and politicians, the pharmaceutical company Mylan said Thursday that it would lower the cost to some patients of the EpiPen, which is used to treat life-threatening allergy attacks.
“That’s awful 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.
They’re offering a $300 savings card for the Epipen 2-pack, increasing eligibility for their patient assistance program so those who are uninsured or under insured will pay nothing, and allowing people to buy the pen from them directly, cutting out a middle man. “Knowing that we have them in our building and readily available just makes everyone feel better”.
“I have patients who refuse to pick up the medication cause their co-pay is so high”.
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In the interest of price transparency, the company says they are also providing the entire economic story of the EpiPen supply chain on their website.
