Drugmakers offer discounts to the uninsured [View All]

Drugmakers offer discounts to the uninsured

By Christopher Bowe in New York

Published: January 12 2005 02:00 | Last updated: January 12 2005 02:00

Ten global pharmaceutical companies plan to offer discounts of at least 25 per cent on drugs for 36m Americans lacking health insurance, as the industry increasingly tries to improve its reputation and ease political pressures.

The companies yesterday launched the Together Rx Access discount card plan, at a time when the US debate continues on escalating drug costs, pricing and the government's role in them. Meanwhile, the drugs industry's reputation is at an all-time low.

Participants include some of the industry's biggest groups: Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories and Bristol-Myers Squibb from the US; AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline of the UK; Sanofi-Aventis of France; Switzerland's Novartis; Japan's Takeda Chemical Industries and TAP, an Abbott-Takeda joint venture.

People qualifying - uninsured individuals with an income of between $30,000 and $60,000 (£15,980-£31,960) for a family of four - would get 25 to 40 per cent discounts on a wide range of prescription medicines and some generic drugs. The plan covers about 80 per cent of some 45m people lacking health insurance. The others may receive other benefits or fail to qualify financially.


more
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/b120a50a-643f-11d9-b0ed-00000e2511c8.html