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Amid a flurry of national proposals to bring exorbitant U.S. drug prices in line with other countries’ charges, one Utah insurer has a different option for patients:
Pay them to go to Mexico.
PEHP, which covers 160,000 public employees and family members, is offering plane tickets to San Diego, transportation to Tijuana, and a $500 cash payout to patients who need certain expensive drugs for multiple sclerosis, cancer and autoimmune disorders.
“That money is pretty small in comparison to the difference between U.S. prices and Mexico prices,” said Travis Tolley, clinical operations director for PEHP.
The insurer rolled out its “pharmacy tourism” option this fall in response to state legislation requiring state employees’ insurance plans to offer “savings rewards,” or cash incentives, to patients who choose cheaper providers.
PEHP is offering pharmacy tourism benefits for about a dozen drugs for which the price disparity between countries is vast. For example, Avonex, which treats MS, costs about $6,700 for a 28-day supply in the U.S., but about $2,200 through PEHP’s contracted clinic in Tijuana.
For three months’ supply — the maximum allowed under the program — the savings of $13,500 more than covers the $500 reward and transportation, typically less than $300 per person.
[...] Patients who participate will fly to San Diego, be driven through a priority lane at the border crossing and arrive at a clinic, which PEHP director Chet Loftis described as “top-notch,” comparable to a Mayo or Cleveland clinic in the United States.
Medical tourism is not new; PEHP itself has previously offered coverage for out-of-country medical procedures. But without the cash incentives, patients haven’t used that option, Loftis said. Now that clients are eligible for up to $3,900 a year in reward payments for trips to Tijuana for procedures and drugs, Loftis said he hopes more will participate.
Source: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2018/10/28/fight-high-drug-prices/
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 30 2018, @02:25PM (4 children)
My employer's health plan has a different solution this year that I hadn't seen before. For expensive long term use drugs they will give them to you for free if you don't mind them being imported from overseas and waiting for shipping (so you need to get an extra prescription in advance). They say they only use "Tier 1 counties" for sourcing these which have "regulations similar to the FDA" and list UK, New Zeland, Canada, and Australia as T1. Supposedly these are just as good and since they are much much cheaper than buying them in the US they give them for free as it's saves them money in the long run and encourages signups.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Tuesday October 30 2018, @06:02PM (3 children)
The FDA is pretty clear that this is not legal.
From https://www.fda.gov/forindustry/importprogram/ucm173751.htm [fda.gov] [emphasis added]:
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 30 2018, @07:03PM
It's really annoying how my prescriptions always run out whenever I'm visiting Mexico!
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Wednesday October 31 2018, @12:22AM
Didn't someone above just point out that at least one of the drugs was in fact manufactured in the US? Clearly it can't be foreign-made from a US perspective in that case...
(Score: 2) by legont on Wednesday October 31 2018, @12:39AM
My company insurance explicitly prohibits buying foreign drugs with an intent to bring them to the US. They pay for drugs abroad if I need them abroad and have even foreign doctor prescriptions while I am on vacation or something and I guess I can bring unused back, but I can not do it with an intent to supply myself.
Perhaps local authorities started to fight the law guerilla style similarly to marijuana movement.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.