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Live Poor Or Die Early: How Serious Illness Treatment Can Drain Your Life Savings
by Joshua Daly
Many families in America have been affected by medical bills and costly prescription medications associated with Serious Illness. People say that you can’t put a price tag on human life, but can you reach the point where you are just preventing the inevitable? Where holding on for just a few years or months is going to produce years of financial hardship on your family?
As horrible as it seems, there are people who have and will be faced with a decision such as this one. Experts at the Medco Drug Trend Report say that in the last year the cost of biotech drugs to treat serious or terminally ill patients rose 22%. Even with a good health care provider or Medicare, patients can easily spend over $10,000 in the first year on prescription medication. According to a report in the journal Cancer, one in five patients miss or delay treatment because of financial complications and if uninsured, nearly 70% miss or delay treatment and 43% went without vital medication.
Frank Beck is 62 years old and is suffering from an advanced form colon cancer that usually claims its victims in less than 2 years. In an interview in USA Today Frank said, “You add all these things up and you say, how can I justify that? Am I taking money away from everybody else just so I can be around a little longer? ...My children tell me I’m worth it, but I don’t know.” Frank cost his health care plan and family more than $150,000 in his first six months of therapy and estimates that he has paid more than $12,000 out-of-pocket towards his treatments and medication. Frank has also had to finance several of the treatments he has taken.
Despite Frank’s apprehension towards his high health care costs he plans to continue to fight the cancer to be true to his families wishes. “I told him the best thing that we could ever have is him alive,” said Liliani Beck (Franks daughter), to USA Today. Frank walks 2 miles a day to keep his strength up and stay in the best shape possible.
Health care costs are hard to combat because the United States is the only modern country that does not have price controls on their prescription medication. Alan Holmer, the president and CEO of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America says, “The principal problem with price controls is you have limitations on access to medicines, and you don't have the newest most innovative treatments." But when asked in a report by ABC’s John McKenzie, “representatives of the pharmaceutical industry could only identify eight drugs not available on Canadian shelves, and three of those are contraceptives.” On top of not having price controls, the pocket books of American drug companies are so deep, they have a heavy influence on the laws that are passed. Even Dan Burton, the state representative from Indiana said, "There's no question in my mind that the (FDA) is too dependent on the pharmaceutical industry for their attitudes and decision-making."
The burden of high priced medication can be lightened by a new company called ePharmacies.com. ePharmacies.com is a pharmacy resource website that will help you locate the cheapest online pharmacies to help cut down your prescription cost. The owner, Cary Byrd said, “We want to help people that are in a strenuous financial situation to be able to get the prescriptions that they need. No one should have to go without their medication because of the outrageous price of prescription medication here in the United States. It’s like kicking someone while there down.”
Visit this Consumer Advocacy website for more information on ordering online prescriptions.
Joshua Daly is an editor, web developer and an expert in the pharmaceutical resource and search industry. He has been working on the Internet since 1999 and is currently the director of ePharmacies.com. Visit this Consumer Advocacy website for more information on ordering from online pharmacies.
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