LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox is stepping up pressure on the Granholm administration to create a web site to make it easier for consumers to price shop for prescription drugs.
Cox also revealed the results of a survey showing dramatic cost differences even for nearby stores. He said he would pursue action against some stores for price gouging, and those that did not comply with state law requiring prices be provided to consumers upon request.
Cox said several other states have developed similar projects, which have helped limit price differences. His survey of 200 pharmacies in 10 cities found wide price variations, such as in Sterling Heights were an asthma inhaler ranged in price from a high of $49 at one pharmacy to a low of $13.99 at another.
He pointed to other states such as Maryland – where the attorney general runs a drug price comparison website – and Florida as examples of how Michigan should provide information to consumers. The latest round in a tug of war over such a site in New York saw Governor George Pataki back away from plans to kill a site run by that state’s attorney general and include $1.4 million in the budget to run it. The information has been collected by volunteers, but is incomplete.
“Creating a prescription drug web site is simple and makes sense,” Cox said said.
Cox had first called for such a web site in 2004 and the House in May approved a bill (HB 4559 establishing a site in the attorney general’s office), but it has not yet had a Senate hearing.
Since May 2005, the Department of Community Health has posted state average prices for the 25 most commonly-prescribed drugs, drawing upon information pharmacies are required to provide the state for Medicaid patients. It also links to other sites providing information drug discount programs.
Community Health spokesperson T. J. Bucholz said the issue is “far from simple” and that the department’s average price list does give consumers valuable information. And he said the retail prices Mr. Cox collected is far different from the information the department has, which reflects prices purchased under negotiated plans and through a multi-state compact, and are a snapshot of a market that fluctuates daily.
More importantly, he said price is just one element that consumers need to consider, with the department advising patients they should stick with one pharmacist to ensure drug interactions can be monitored. “A prescription drug website sometimes encourages comparison by price rather than other factors that are important to your personal health,” he said. “We think the tools we have available have significant use to those trying to get the cost of commonly-prescribed drugs.”
Cox, who said a surprise was that the “mom and pop” pharmacies were not “blown out of the water” by the big retail chains, said the survey “dramatically pointed out the need for such a website.” He also said it was surprising costs could be so different within a couple of miles between pharmacies.
Cox said he is conducting further investigation of 12 pharmacies for suspected price gouging, though he said the law has never been tested. “It raises questions when one store charges 3-4 times what another does,” he said.
He said 26 of the 200 pharmacies contacted did not give prices, as law requires, and that information is being turned over to the Bureau of Health Professions for possible licensing action. The survey was taken in pharmacies in Detroit, Livonia, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Monroe, Royal Oak, Saginaw, St. Joseph/Benton Harbor, Sterling Heights and Traverse City.
AARP Michigan supports the website plan as a way to comparison shop as drug prices continue to outpace the rate of inflation. Bill Knox, AARP Michigan government affairs director, said, “People do not have access to information that could save them hundreds of dollars a year. The state should provide the tools to comparison shop for prescription drugs.
Greg Baran, director of governmental affairs for the Michigan Pharmacists Association, said the group has no position on the website proposal, but agreed patients have the right to know the prices of drugs before they purchase them. He said one pharmacist noted that in one week he had 1,500 changes in drug prices and has not been consulted on how the proposed website would work.
“We would love to work with the attorney general on his proposal,” he said. But he also added that patients need to look at the total cost of health care and develop an ongoing relationship with a physician and pharmacist to ensure the best care at reasonable costs.
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