Washington, DC - America's senior citizens are falling farther and farther behind in their struggles to pay for the prescription drugs they need as prices for those drugs increase faster than inflation, according to a new report released today by Families USA, a consumer health care organization.
The report examines the increasing costs of the 50 drugs that are most commonly prescribed for senior citizens. The report was highlighted by President Bill Clinton at a White House press briefing today. Joining the President were Families USA executive director Ron Pollack, Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD), and Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-MO).
"This report underscores the importance of protecting seniors from the growing burden of prescription drug prices," Pollack said. "Each year, it becomes increasingly difficult for millions of senior citizens to pay for the drugs they need. Their incomes remain fixed as they watch drug prices soar out of sight, taking the promise of effective treatment with them."
"Still Rising" examines the increasing costs of the 50 drugs most commonly prescribed for senior citizens from January 1999 to January 2000 and from January 1994 to January 2000. The report found, for example, in the 1999-2000 period:
- Prices for the 50 drugs most frequently used by seniors rose, on average, nearly double the rate of inflation.
- Of the 50 drugs, only 12 rose slower than inflation; nine had no price increase.
- Prices for 33 of those drugs rose by at least 1.5 times the rate of inflation.
- Prices for 25 of those drugs rose at least twice the rate of inflation.
- Prices for 15 of those drugs rose at least three times the rate of inflation.
- Prices for 11 of those drugs rose at least four times the rate of inflation.
The prices for some drugs soared even higher over that one-year span. The cost of one, furosemide (a diuretic manufactured by Watson and used to treat conditions such as hypertension and congestive heart failure), rose by 50 percent, about 23 times the rate of inflation. Another drug, Klor-Con 10 (manufactured by Upsher-Smith and used as a potassium replacement), rose 43.8 percent, or about 20 times the inflation rate.
The Families USA report found similar price hikes over the six-year period from January 1994 to January 2000. Thirty-nine (39) of the 50 most-commonly-prescribed drugs were on the market during that entire six-year period. Of those:
- Prices for 37 of 39 rose faster than inflation.
- Prices for three-quarters of those drugs - 30 out of 39 - rose at least 1.5 times the rate of inflation.
- Prices for more than half of those drugs - 22 out of 39 - rose at least twice the rate of inflation.
- Prices for 11 out of the 39 rose at least three times the rate of inflation.
- Prices for 6 out of 39 rose at least five times the rate of inflation.
The report's findings may have a major impact on the debate regarding prescription drug coverage for senior citizens. The Clinton Administration has proposed a benefit that would cover all seniors, while the House Republican leadership has proposed a plan that would only subsidize seniors with incomes up to 150 percent of poverty, or $12,525 a year for a widow or widower. Pollack called that woefully inadequate.
"A widow living on $1,000 a month and trying to pay for housing, food, and utilities will find the fast-growing costs of prescription drugs unaffordable," he said. "Seniors living at 150 percent of poverty cannot afford drugs that consume one-sixth of their modest incomes."
As an example, Pollack described the situation of a widow living on $12,525 a year who must take Glucophage, Procardia XL and Lipitor, three commonly-prescribed medications for diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol, three relatively common conditions. She faces an annual bill of up to $2,295 for those medicines alone -- more than 18.3 percent of her total income.
The report's price increase data are based on price increases in average wholesale prices. Data for the report were prepared for Families USA by the PRIME Institute of the University of Minnesota.
Pdf of report
