Health Benefits Planning: Now This Makes Sense
Some companies have begun to eliminate or reduce co-payments for prescriptions drugs for chronic ailments in their health plans. According to this article in the Boston Globe:
"Right now, this country's number-one approach to the high cost of healthcare is to make employees pay more... but cost sharing is a blunt instrument and the evidence actually shows that if you make people with chronic illnesses pay more, they stop buying the lifesaving things they need and companies wind up paying more."
In addition:
"Concerned about escalating health insurance premiums, Marriott International Inc. began eliminating co-payments on generic drugs for workers with chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, and heart disease last year. The benefit, for 75,000 US employees and their dependents, includes a 50 percent cut in co-payments for brand-name drugs."
It is not uncommon for someone who is fully insured with a chronic condition to take a half a dozen prescriptions. At $20 each and a spouse and children, all of these prescriptions add up. When money is tight, people are less likely to fill a prescription. Thankfully, at least some companies understand that a few bottles of statins cost far less than a quadruple bypass.
