Prescription Coverage... Nexium

[The Pard]

How many are going to be affected when their
prescription coverage stops covering Nexium
and they are told that they can now buy
Non-Prescription Prilosec for something like
a dollar per 20mg pill?

The insurance companies are sure to jump on this bandwagon and it should help to keep prices down
considerably (at least for those who had to pay full price for the Nexium) Those with great coverage may not be so happy in the long run.
Believe it or not, I heard this discussed on the Rush Limbaugh Show June 23rd.

Comments?

The Pard

[linbee]

I find it interesting that buying OTC Prilosec, if it is indeed going to be $1/pill, will cost me less, at $30/month, than it does under my current insurance, which has a co-pay of $40. This is especially good news since I will no longer have insurance at the end of July. Someone else (on another forum) questioned whether the OTC would be identical to the rx, since it's a different color. Does anyone know the answer? I'm curious, since I've discovered that the generic does not work as well for me.

linbee

[The Pard]

Hi Linbee,

If you are presently taking 40 mg a day, you could find an increase in your costs.
If you are already on 20mg there should be no difference in the strength.

I wonder if the 40mg strength will still be
a prescription item. often you can get the 40mg strength for almost the same price as the 20mg.
I wonder if the pharmacist is allowed to substitiute the 40mg pill and allow you to cut them in half to save money.
If you could do that, you could get twice the
duration for almost the same price... ie. 30 pills
could last 2 months and if that was still at the
"$1.00" a pill, you could really save some coin.

Compare prices as soon as you can, to see if the
prices change when people figure this out.
I am sure that someone will be levelling the price difference and trying to remove the advantage
to the consumer.

Good shopping..
The Pard

[Hawk]

A little more information from Newsday.com

"This over-the-counter version is no longer purple, but salmon pink. And Prilosec OTC will cost less than $1 a day, less than a third the price of today's prescription pill, said distributor Procter & Gamble. "

"Another quirk: For treating more serious stomach ailments such as ulcers, original purple Prilosec still will be sold by prescription -- in the same dose as the over-the-counter version. Usually when both prescription and nonprescription versions of a drug are sold, the prescription version is a higher dose."

"So Prilosec OTC will come in 14-pill packages. People who recently started suffering frequent heartburn should try one 14-day course of treatment. If the heartburn returns in less than four months, the patient should see a doctor, the FDA said. If it comes back after that, the patient can try Prilosec OTC again -- but should take no more than three 14-day courses a year."

"Doctors typically prescribe Prilosec for longer periods of time than 14 days, but are supervising the patients to watch for worsening problems."

[tricia]

Linbee, your question as to whether these drugs are the same
.
The FDA states that a generic drug is allowed to have a different, size, shape and colour,from the original---- as long as the active ingredients are totally identical to the original drug. The non active ingrediants however, are allowed to be different.

The generic manufacturer must conduct lab testing and studies on humans to prove the generic has the same effectiveness and side effects as the brand-name. Three studies were done.with prilosec.

Although generics still contain the same active ingredient as the original branded drug, they often act somewhat differently in the body because of the difference in inactive ingrediants. . Some are longer or shorter lasting, some contain a slightly different sister compound, or salts--- which may slightly alter effectiveness---- depending on one's metabolism. .