Firms Offer Card to Cut Drug Costs

Top pharmaceutical companies launched a prescription drug savings card Tuesday in an attempt to help reduce costs for the approximately 45 million Americans without health insurance.

The free card, called Together RX Access, gives patients discounts at pharmacies on brand-name and generic medicines. It will be effective next month.

But some analysts and others said the card was part of a calculated move to divert attention from high prices and the debate over importing cheaper medicines from Canada and other countries, which drug makers oppose.

Some groups also said the need for such a card highlights the growing problem of uninsured Americans, who make up about 15.6% of the population according to the Census Bureau.

Ron Pollack, head of the healthcare policy group Families USA, said the Together RX Access card “would offer some important help” but that President Bush and Congress needed to prioritize expanded healthcare coverage.

Without insurance, patients may be able to save on prescriptions with special cards but “they won’t even see a doctor to prescribe the medicines they need,” Pollack said.

Drug companies have been under fire for high prices, which have outpaced inflation according to several studies by groups like AARP, the lobby for the elderly. The industry has argued that the cost of drugs on the market helps pay for the development of new medicines.

By offering savings, companies can try to bolster their negative reputation, analysts said. And bigger volume can offset the lower prices, some said.

Participating companies for the new card include Abbott Laboratories Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Pfizer Inc., Sanofi-Aventis and Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc.