Rising drug costs worry
half of Hawaii residents
A survey conducted by AARP Hawaii found that half of Hawaii's residents, particularly those over age 50, are concerned about how they will afford prescription drugs in the next two years.
AARP conducted the survey to support its upcoming campaign to ensure prescription drug legislation passed in Hawaii in 2002 can be amended to broaden its scope and then be implemented in the summer of 2004, AARP Hawaii State Director Greg Marchildon said at a press conference yesterday.
Among the survey's other findings:
>> 27 percent of the people in Hawaii who take prescription drugs on a regular basis, spent $100 or more out of their own pocket on prescription drugs in the last 90 days, and one in 10 say they spent $250 or more.
>> 51 percent of those residents who are taking prescription drugs on a regular basis say paying for those drugs presents a financial burden, particularly those with incomes of $50,000 or less.
>> 32 percent of those people in Hawaii who regularly take prescription drugs report taking at least one significant cost-reducing measure to pay for their medication. Those with incomes less than $50,000 are more likely than residents with higher incomes to either put off filling a prescription, cut back on necessities or decrease the dosage.
AARP commissioned Mattson Sunderland Research and Planning Associates to conduct the telephone survey. A total of 1,002 interviews with people 18 and older were conducted in September and October. The survey, which was released yesterday, had a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percent.
The Hawaii Rx program, which passed in 2002, would create a state bulk-purchasing pool to leverage lower drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. Marchildon said the law, modeled after the Maine Rx program, was written loosely because pharmaceutical companies challenged the Maine program. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of Maine. Now, with it settled, both Maine and Hawaii, the only states with such legislation, are free to add more specific language and implement their plans, Marchildon said.
AARP Hawaii will seek to amend the law during the 2004 legislative session. It estimates the plan will help 300,000 people in Hawaii. Under the revised legislation, the plan will cover people up to 350 percent of the federal poverty level. That translates to income of $74,500 for a family of four and $36,000 for a family of one.
Eligible Hawaii residents would apply for a Hawaii Rx card and use it to obtain discounts ranging between 10 and 60 percent off the retail price of the drug, according to Marchildon.
Also speaking at yesterday's press conference was Mike Saxl, former speaker of the House of Representatives in Maine and one of the co-sponsors of the legislation in that state. He said his state plans to move ahead with the plan. "We believe overnight that it (the Maine Rx program) will offer 16 percent to 60 percent savings," Saxl said.
Even though drug companies initially had threatened to stop selling drugs in states with such programs, Saxl said he's not worried about such suggestions now.
"They can't stop selling, it's against the law," he said.
Saxl said he believes Hawaii and Maine's drug programs will benefit senior citizens in middle-income categories who would not see as much benefit from recently passed federal legislation that added of drug plan to the Medicare plan. "It makes the Medicare Rx plan even better -- it will be seamless," he said.
Marchildon said AARP plans an extensive campaign, which will include a series of public forums to provide further information about the program and garner public support for its legislative efforts.