Touched by an Angell

  • by: |
  • 07/28/2005

I really wanted to link to Dr. Marcia Angell’s July 15, 2004 temper tantrum article in The New York Review of Books — but I couldn’t get permission. So, rather than infuriate you further with her dangerously slanted views, let me share a more useful debate.

Imagine American health care spending as a dollar bill divided into a hundred pennies. How many pennies do you think represent spending on prescription drugs? 60? 80? Wrong. 10 1/2. The rest (otherwise known as 85%) represent everything else — from doctor visits and hospitalization to administrative charges, and insurance.

What’s a better bargain: time spent in the hospital, or drugs that keep Americans healthy and productive? The answer is clear. Fewer cents make the most sense.

More Americans are using more prescription drugs and for good reason. New medicines are increasingly the first, most effective, and most cost efficient treatment options. Ask any doctor. Ask your doctor. Is spending on pharmaceuticals up? It is, because more drugs are being prescribed. And the result is a healthier America and a reduced burden on the American health care system.

Itâs also true that insurance companies have been increasing their monthly premiums — but not because prescription drugs costs are busting their budgets. That is, as they say, a lie â but an often repeated one. Prescription drugs account for only a small part of monthly insurance-premium increases. Consider this, from 1998 to 2003, insurance companies increased their premiums by an average of $104.62 per person. During that same time period prescription-drug costs increased by $22.48. What about the other $82.14? That’s a good question. And America deserves an answer.

What about Medicaid? In 2002, prescription drugs accounted for only 11.4 percent of Medicaid spending, and from 1997 to 2002 Medicaid prescription drug increases accounted for less than 20% of the total increase in spending.

Are the majority of Americans with private health insurance spending more for drugs? Yes — because their insurance companies are paying less. In 2000, people under 65 with private health insurance paid 37.2 percent of the cost of their prescription drugs costs out of their own pockets. (Not surprisingly, this leads many Americans to believe that their increased out-of-pocket expenses is because of higher drug costs.) The truth is that the growth in prescription-drug co-payments outpaced the growth rate of prescription drug prices four to one.

This imbalance has had a devastating impact on the health of Americans and the American health care system. Out-of-control out-of-pocket expenses have caused many patients to stop using prescription drugs for controllable chronic conditions like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, ulcers and depression. The unfortunate result among patients with diabetes, asthma, and gastric acid diseases is that visits to emergency rooms have increased 17 percent and hospital stays have risen 10 percent.

Itâs not about the price of drugs â itâs about the cost of health care. And the American pharmaceutical industry is committed to being a part of the solution. As Disraeli said, âit is easier to criticize than be correct.”

CMPI

Center for Medicine in the Public Interest is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization promoting innovative solutions that advance medical progress, reduce health disparities, extend life and make health care more affordable, preventive and patient-centered. CMPI also provides the public, policymakers and the media a reliable source of independent scientific analysis on issues ranging from personalized medicine, food and drug safety, health care reform and comparative effectiveness.

Blog Roll

Alliance for Patient Access Alternative Health Practice
AHRP
Better Health
BigGovHealth
Biotech Blog
BrandweekNRX
CA Medicine man
Cafe Pharma
Campaign for Modern Medicines
Carlat Psychiatry Blog
Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry: A Closer Look
Conservative's Forum
Club For Growth
CNEhealth.org
Diabetes Mine
Disruptive Women
Doctors For Patient Care
Dr. Gov
Drug Channels
DTC Perspectives
eDrugSearch
Envisioning 2.0
EyeOnFDA
FDA Law Blog
Fierce Pharma
fightingdiseases.org
Fresh Air Fund
Furious Seasons
Gooznews
Gel Health News
Hands Off My Health
Health Business Blog
Health Care BS
Health Care for All
Healthy Skepticism
Hooked: Ethics, Medicine, and Pharma
Hugh Hewitt
IgniteBlog
In the Pipeline
In Vivo
Instapundit
Internet Drug News
Jaz'd Healthcare
Jaz'd Pharmaceutical Industry
Jim Edwards' NRx
Kaus Files
KevinMD
Laffer Health Care Report
Little Green Footballs
Med Buzz
Media Research Center
Medrants
More than Medicine
National Review
Neuroethics & Law
Newsbusters
Nurses For Reform
Nurses For Reform Blog
Opinion Journal
Orange Book
PAL
Peter Rost
Pharm Aid
Pharma Blog Review
Pharma Blogsphere
Pharma Marketing Blog
Pharmablogger
Pharmacology Corner
Pharmagossip
Pharmamotion
Pharmalot
Pharmaceutical Business Review
Piper Report
Polipundit
Powerline
Prescription for a Cure
Public Plan Facts
Quackwatch
Real Clear Politics
Remedyhealthcare
Shark Report
Shearlings Got Plowed
StateHouseCall.org
Taking Back America
Terra Sigillata
The Cycle
The Catalyst
The Lonely Conservative
TortsProf
Town Hall
Washington Monthly
World of DTC Marketing
WSJ Health Blog