In early 2019, Jennifer Hepworth and her husband were stunned by a large bill they unexpectedly received for their daughter's prescription cystic fibrosis medication. Their payment had risen to $3,500 from the usual $30 for a month's supply.
That must be a mistake, she told the pharmacy. But it wasn't. It turned out that the health insurance plan through her husband's job had a new program in which it stopped applying any financial assistance they received from drugmakers to the family's annual deductible.
Insurers or employers can tap into funds provided to patients by drugmakers through copay assistance programs, which were designed by the companies to help patients afford increasingly expensive medications. But, because those payments are no longer counted toward the deductible, patients must pay an amount out-of-pocket, too, often for the same drugs. Those deductibles or other out-of-pocket costs can easily run into thousands of dollars.
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
