Patient FAQ
Why do medicines cost so much?
The price of medicines is a concern to many people, yet the cost of conducting the work continues to rise. Discovery and development of medicines is a high-risk endeavor that requires the investment of billions of dollars. Only one compound in 10,000 tested advances to human clinical trials and ultimately becomes available to patients. Only three out of 10 new medicines produce revenues that match or exceed average research and development costs. Additionally, pharmaceuticals represent only about 10 cents of every dollar spent on health care. (www.phrma.org). Studies have shown that pharmaceuticals provide value, because for each additional dollar spent on newer pharmaceuticals, $6.17 is saved in total health care spending, $4.44 of which comes from savings in hospital spending (www.innovation.org).
When pricing our medicines, we consider multiple factors, including research and development costs, manufacturing and quality assurance costs, the therapeutic value of the product and government regulations. We work to strike a balance between maximizing patient access and ensuring a sustainable return to fund our future research and development. The pricing of medicines is a complex process that is best managed through free-market mechanisms. The distribution of our products varies across markets and involves many players who influence the cost of medicines for patients. In the United States, pharmaceutical companies do not set prices for cash-paying customers – retail pharmacies do – and there is tremendous variability in pricing at the retail level for the same medicine.
At our company, we offer our employees 100 percent coverage on Abbott medicines and diabetes care products.
How is Abbott helping uninsured Americans to access medicines?
We believe that all people should have access to quality health care, and solutions need to be found to help the more than 46.6 million Americans who do not have health insurance (www.census.gov). Through our patient assistance programs in the United States, we provide free medicines to financially disadvantaged patients who do not have prescription drug coverage. Additionally, we participate in industrywide initiatives to help low-income, uninsured or underinsured patients access free or discounted medicines. Abbott also supports equal access to innovative therapies for everyone through options that may make health insurance more affordable, such as tax credits that allow individuals to purchase health care policies, premium subsidies and employer purchasing pools. We supported the enactment of the Medicare Modernization Act, which added voluntary prescription drug coverage to the Medicare health insurance program for people in the United States who are over 65 years of age, or have certain disabilities or serious kidney disease.
Why does Abbott oppose the importation of medicines from Canada to the United States?
Product safety is our primary concern regarding medicines imported from Canada. Currently, there are no mechanisms in place to monitor the safety and efficacy of imported products (www.aarp.org).
Furthermore, we believe that importation is not a solution to making medicines more affordable for patients. According to a recent AARP Bulletin, Americans who choose the least expensive Medicare benefit plan in their area that covers all of their medicines could pay less than they would if they purchased the same medicines in Canada. Moreover, importation of medicines also poses safety concerns. The U.S. FDA has stated that it cannot ensure the safety and effectiveness of pharmaceuticals imported via parallel distribution channels that lack regulatory or quality oversight.
