Question

Report on the factors that contribute to the growth in medications

Include the following aspects in the discussion:

• Find a scholarly article on the costs of medications
• Explore whether pharmaceuticals should be regulated
• Discuss the impact of medication costs for the uninsured
• Consider actions that could be taken to reduce medication costs

Answer 1

#factors that contribute to the growth in medications

High launch prices, with the price of the drug then often increasing over time.

Inadequate competition when market exclusivity ends.

The interaction of market power, health insurance, and the lack of effective incentives for controlling product price.

Unequal bargaining power between buyers and sellers.

Research, development, and marketing expenditures as well as other business expenses.

Insurance benefit designs with significant patient cost-sharing provisions.

Inadequate performance of patient assistance programs and other public programs intended to make medicines more affordable for patients.

Lack of adequate information affecting choices regarding medicines.

# some suggestions to help you reduce the cost of your prescription medications:

Review the drug formulary of your insurance plan.

Ask your pharmacist if a generic drug is available.

Consider therapeutic substitutes

Look for manufacturer coupons

Check online for patient assistance programs

# health care services received by uninsured individuals that they do not pay for themselves are picked up or “absorbed” by a number of parties, including:

practitioners and institutions, both public and private, that serve the uninsured at no charge or reduced charges;

the federal government, localities, and states that support the operation of hospitals and clinics, both through direct appropriations and implicit subsidies like the Medicare and Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments; and

philanthropic donations.

The claim is often made that hospitals and physicians shift the costs of uncompensated care onto the bills of insured patients, and the Committee also considers the evidence for such cost shifting.

The chapter is organized as follows. The first section briefly compares the average overall health expenditures for uninsured and privately insured populations.

# Abstract

Pharmaceutical regulations across the world play an important role in ensuring the safety and efficacy of the approved drugs. They not only regulate the pricing of drugs but the quality as well. The regulations are required both for new innovations and already existing products, in order to improve health status. Both products which are produced domestically and those imported from other countries require regulation. Every country has its own regulations which apply to innovation, manufacturing, drug testing, marketing, and post marketing studies. The aim is to maintain the standards of the drug at every step to cater for the patient population of each country. This chapter focuses on the pharmaceutical regulations of India.