By Sarah Brady
September 1, 2022
One in 10 U.S. adults has skipped taking a prescribed medication in order to save money, according to a Gallup poll. Cost Plus Drugs, Mark Cuban’s new pharmaceutical company, might be their best shot at finding the affordable medications they need.
Policy measures like the Inflation Reduction Act will help some consumers, since it will lower the cost of prescription drugs for Medicare recipients. But that legislation leaves out many Americans who struggle to pay for necessary medications.
According to a 2021 survey from Gallup and West Health, people who are too young to qualify for Medicare (most people under 65) are twice as likely as other age groups to have difficulty paying for medication.
“Healthcare in America is a story of tradeoffs and financial pain and it’s been that way for years,” says Timothy Lash, president of West Health, a nonprofit research and policy center focused on reducing healthcare costs. “The high cost of healthcare has become a major public health threat – one borne out of cost rather than illness,” he adds.
Although prescription discount companies like GoodRX and SingleCare have been helping reduce medication costs for years, Cost Plus Drugs is delivering big discounts and generating a lot of excitement by word-of-mouth. So what’s the fuss all about?