The Pharmaceutical Companies Come Up With More Creative Ways to Suck Money from the American Health System...

So goes the latest scheme to come from the pharmaceutical industry...

The re-run. Marked way up.

It's the new trick from some enterprising pharmaceutical companies. Take an existing medication, tweak it ever so slightly, and charge 6 times the generic version! Sweeet deal!

But hey, no insurance company would go for that. They'll make it a 'tier 3 drug' and the patient would have to pay a bunch out of pocket. If the patients have to pay $100 for a new prescription, they'll say no thanks and leave the pills on the pharmacy counter.

Problem solved.

But, the pharm companies figured out a way around that! They will give us prescription writers a co-pay card! I can write a prescription for the 'newish' drug, give the patient the co-pay card, and the pharm company eats the $100 co-pay, and the patient pays nothing!

Wow, I'm going to feel so good about myself as a health-care provider. My patient won't pay a dime for their pills!

But what's the real cost? I was approached by a sales rep who promised me my patients would get their medication FOR FREE, but of course, they need to have some kind of health insurance. But not medicare. Or medicaid. He conceded the prescription would be tier 3, but don't worry about it with this handy-dandy co-pay card.

So after he left I called the pharmacy and found out the true price on those pills. While the generic was about a dollar a pill, these babies were about 6 dollars a pill... Wow!

So, for a standard prescription, the insurance company will have to pay $1100, and the company will cover the $100 co-pay. For the generic alternative, the insurance company pays about $160, and the patient will pay $20.

I confronted the rep when he came back a couple of weeks later. I asked him exactly what kind of R&D did his company do on this product to justify $6 a pill. He smiled.

"I don't really know," was his retort. "All I know is your patients are gonna get their medication for FREE!!!"

"Well," I replied, "I cannot write a prescription for your medication. I am morally opposed to your company's business model."

"But what about your patients? They're gonna have to pay a copay!"

I nodded. "I know, and I'm the last guy who would want to come to the defense of the insurance companies, but I'm not going to play your game."

He packed up his stuff and took off. Haven't seen him since.

He never even brought donuts.