By: Tim Boyum
RALEIGH—Some uninsured North Carolinians are paying nearly three times
the national average for prescription drugs, according to a new study
released Tuesday by North Carolina Public Interest Research Group.
About 1.4 million North Carolinians have no health insurance, and
experts say the increased price of medications often forces them to cut
corners.
“Unfortunately,
what people start doing is cutting short on their medications. They'll
take a tablet every other day instead of every day,” said pharmacist
Mike James. “With some of these medications, if you start doing that,
you'll end up in the emergency room and that becomes even more
expensive.”
Rob Thompson of NCPIRG says the federal government uses its power to
negotiate lower prices for the drugs it purchases for veterans,
government employees, and retirees while leaving hard-working Americans
without health insurance or coverage to pay full price.
The study shows that the uninsured pay 58 percent more than the federal government.
“So
the people who are uninsured, either through government program or
private, are the people who pay the most,” said Rep. Verla Insko, a
Democrat from Orange County.
The
report offers several solutions to help people find cheaper
prescription drugs, and much of that help would come from the General
Assembly. There is a bill pending in the legislature to create a buying
pool, however it has sat in committee for more than year.
On
a national scale, the uninsured pay 60 percent more than the federal
government does for most prescription drugs. The study focused on 600
pharmacies in 35 U.S. cities.
