Medications-Who Is Really Calling The Shots?

Millions of people take prescription medicine on a daily basis for a variety of ailments. Some take numerous pills each day in the hope of improving their health and extending their life. Many obtain these prescriptions through their health care plan and are often only required to make a co-payment to receive the drugs prescribed by their doctors. Of course, if you are taking numerous drugs, even the co-payments can add up to be a substantial amount of money.

The dark side of this reality is that many doctors and professional medicine prescriber's are often influenced by the drug company representatives to prescribe certain or specific drugs. Many of these drug companies provide perks to the doctors if they recommend these drugs to their patients. They are provided with sample drugs that are given to the patients for starters before they have to start buying them. Depending on the drugs being promoted, they are generally very expensive and more often than not, the health insurance companies must absorb the costs, which is usually passed on to the policy holding consumers in the form of higher monthly premiums

Every consumer patient should always inquire about the availability of generic drugs if the specific condition requires them. More often than not, generics can be substituted for their more expensive name brand counterparts that a doctor might be recommending. The reality side of the generic substitute equivalent is that they often are not available for brand new drugs for sometimes several years. Another bonus fact is that there might be another drug that is equally effective and costs much less.

It is also good to truly shop around for generics before you make any drug purchases. For many people receiving the drugs, the cost is not a issue with them simply because they are not paying for them. This attitude is creating a crisis situation, because there is no such thing as a free ride, someone always ends up paying the piper is some form or another. A new position that many people are finding themselves in today, is shopping for a new health insurance policy and carrier, due to job loss and unemployment.

Although a continuation of health insurance coverage is available, it is very costly and many people cannot afford it, especially when their income has been reduced to what unemployment provides. It is sad that just when your income plummets, your expenses rise. How can any of us cope with this? If we have savings, that will carry us through for a while, however, seldom do we have enough to last us until we can find another position, especially in this economic environment.

It is necessary that you can rely on your agent or broker to explain all of the details of your policy and to answer questions regarding exclusions, deductible, co-payments and maximum out-of-pocket expenses. All of these additional costs must be calculated when comparing the costs of different policies. Premium alone does not determine which policy is the best buy. Only when all of these have been considered, are you prepared to make an informed decision regarding your purchase. This is the time to decide which policy best suits your needs and to sign a contract for a new medical insurance plan.