Health Insurance Articles
Advantages To Buying A Health Insurance Policy That Supports Brand Name Drugs
2010-04-20
A health insurance policy is designed, at the most basic level, to ensure access to health services and products when needed, and at a substantially reduced amount from what they would cost on an open market. While monthly health insurance costs are often high, they pale in comparison to the amounts that could be paid out if an uncovered individual suddenly became ill and needed recurring treatment or a new, expensive drug treatment. One of the essential elements of every health insurance plan will be access to prescription drugs at a lower than market cost, but every plan will have different co-payment amounts and access to different tiers of drugs. In some cases, it can be beneficial to have a plan that allows access to brand-name drugs.
Generally, there will be three tiers of drug co-payments in a health insurance policy. The first will be for "generic" drugs, which are made to do the same thing as brand-name drugs, but without the proprietary formula or trademark of the actual brand. The second will be for these same brand-name drugs, and the third level will be reserved for drugs that do not fall on either list, possibly because they are new, experimental, or simply not well documented. At each level, the co-payment costs will increase, and can often double for brand-name drugs and triple for those that are not on the list.
For many, using only generic drugs or purchasing a health-insurance plan that does not have access to brand-name drugs may seem like an effective cost-cutting measure, but there are situations when that is not the case. First, there are plans that offer certain brand-name drugs at or near the same price as some generic drugs. The brand-name variety will almost invariably work more effectively than their generic counterparts, and paying the same or slightly more for those drugs can be worthwhile. This ties into the second reason, which lies mainly in the efficacy of brand-name drugs. Generic drugs are simply copies of a well-known and effective drug. They are based off of a pre-existing formula, but cannot use the identical chemical makeup due to patent issues. This naturally blunts their effectiveness. A slightly more expensive brand-name drug that needs to be used less often or for a shorter period of time due to its effectiveness will save money in the long run over a cheaper drug.
With health insurance costs constantly on the rise, it is essential that consumers find the best deal for their money, and the health insurance policy that best fits their needs. A plan that includes access to brand-name drugs can often be of great use in keeping long-term costs down.
