Rx comparisons may lead seniors to doctors' doors

Medicare Web site gives patients a way to look for lower-cost drug alternatives.

By David Glendinning, AMNews staff. Oct. 4, 2004.

A new price-comparison tool will prompt many Medicare drug discount cardholders to question their doctors about their prescriptions, federal officials predicted.

Launched Sept. 15 on Medicare's drug card Web site, the mechanism permits seniors not only to determine which card will offer them the lowest prices but also whether there is a less-expensive option, based on national averages, within the class of drug that they need. Commonly used blood-pressure medications, statins, ACE inhibitors, allergy drugs and arthritis medications make up the types of prescriptions for which patients can receive alternative quotes.

The discovery that a competing brand-name drug or generic substitute is significantly less costly will likely convince some beneficiaries to ask their physicians about the appropriateness of a switch, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said at a briefing.

"Nobody compares prices better than our seniors," he remarked.

A beneficiary who is on Zocor (simvastatin) to manage cholesterol, for instance, could save $300 to $400 a year on average by switching to Altoprev (lovastatin-extended release) or one of three other alternatives, according to information on the Web site. The data are also available by calling 800-MEDICARE.