5 Ways To Save On Prescriptions

The skyrocketing cost of drugs is inflicting pain. These strategies can help spell relief.

- Kimberly Lankford

SPENDING ON PRESCRIPTION DRUGS HAS reached stratospheric levels, topping $457 billion in the U.S. last year, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Most large employers point to the cost of specialty medications as the single biggest impetus for rising health care costs, with no relief in sight.

Specialty drugs treat complex conditions such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. They cost more because they usually require special handling and storage, and they may need to be administered via injection or infusion. They usually don’t have generic equivalents.

In the latest survey by the National Business Group on Health, large employers predict the cost to provide health benefits will rise by 6% in 2017, but they expect a 16.8% increase in spending for specialty medications. “It has really exploded,” says group president Brian Marcotte. “Back in 2014, if you would have asked employers about their top driver of health care costs, specialty drugs wouldn’t even have made the radar screen.”

Why are costs rising so fast? More people are living longer with chronic conditions, and drug companies have been introducing new specialty medicines that are expensive to manufacture and administer. They’ve also been hiking prices for other brand-name drugs—with some eye-popping examples grabbing headlines. Finally, fewer patents have expired recently, slowing the introduction of new and cheaper generics.