Uninsured consumers in Green Bay pay 55 percent more for common prescription drugs than the federal government pays for the same drugs, according to a study released Tuesday.

Wesconsin, USA. July 12, 2006 (GreenBayPressGazette.com)


The Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group released "Paying the Price, The High Cost of Prescription Drugs for Uninsured Americans." The report surveyed costs in 35 cities across the nation, including Green Bay, Madison and Milwaukee.

"Politicians have focused on the high cost of prescription drugs for senior citizens, but with no one to negotiate lower prices on their behalf, millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans go it alone at the drugstore and they pay the price," said Jennifer Giegerich, state director of Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group.

In spring, the state research group teamed up with similar groups in other states to survey more than 600 pharmacies in 35 cities to find out how much uninsured consumers pay for 10 drugs when compared with prices paid by the federal government, which uses its buying power to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices.

The drugs included antibiotics, allergy medications, anti-depressants and cholesterol-lowering medication.

Among the report's key findings are:

In Green Bay, uninsured residents pay 55 percent more than the federal government pays for the same drugs. One drug, Synthroid, a thyroid disorder drug, costs the uninsured in Green Bay 159 percent more than what the federal government pays.

The uninsured here pay twice as much at local drugstores than they would pay for the same drugs at a Canadian pharmacy. The hormone replacement Premarin costs nearly 484.3 percent more at a drugstore in Green Bay than it would at a Canadian pharmacy.

The research group has made these recommendations:

Increase the availability of low-cost generic drugs by increasing the budget for the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Generic Drugs, which currently has a backlog of 800 generic drug applications waiting for approval.

Establish prescription drug-buying pools at the state level to allow individuals, businesses and the government to use their combined buying power to negotiate lower drug prices with manufacturers.

Finally, for consumers, the group says shop around and buy generic whenever possible. Also, use the Internet to find out the average retail cost of medications.

### GreenBayPressGazette.com