The prices of some prescription drugs are so high that one out of eight Americans have skipped treatments because they couldn’t afford to purchase their medications. Generic drugs can make it much easier for patients to afford the medications they need. Many people wonder, though, why generic drugs cost so much less than name-brand options.
Drug Companies Can Charge Higher Prices for Patented Medications
When a pharmaceutical company develops a new drug and wants to make it available to the public, it has to file a patent with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. In many cases, the company gets protection from the patent for 20 years, although the specific number of years can vary depending on numerous factors.
As long as the pharmaceutical company has a patent, no one else can manufacture or sell the drug. The company that created the drug, therefore, has a monopoly. It can charge any price that it wants to recoup money spent on research and development. Of course, the company also wants to earn a large profit to satisfy investors.
Generic Drugs Are Made After the Patent Ends
Once the patent expires on a drug, other pharmaceutical companies can make generic versions of it. Since the new companies didn’t invest money into research and development, they can often charge extremely low prices.
Even though the generic drug contains the same active and inactive ingredients, it may cost 30 to 80 percent less than the name-brand version.
Saving Money on Name-Brand and Generic Drugs
Generic drugs have lower prices than name-brand drugs, but that doesn’t mean that they are always affordable. Patients who do not have an insurance policy that covers medication costs may want to get DentalSave memberships that include the prescription discount benefits of MedImpact.
MedImpact gives patients savings from 15 to 60 percent off the retail price of generic drugs. If someone needs to purchase a name-brand drug, MedImpact will lower the price by 15 to 25 percent. Considering that 62,000 pharmacies in the U.S. participate in the MedImpact program, patients can save a lot of money by using it to buy their medications.
DentalSave members can also save even more by using MedImpact’s mail order service.
