Going Generic
Xanax by another name costs less
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the state’s largest health insurer, kicked off a campaign last fall to increase the use of generic drugs in the state.
Called “Generic Drugs: The Unadvertised Brand,” the effort ran from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2001, and encouraged pharmacies and consumers to choose cheaper generic equivalents when filling prescriptions.
The campaign began in May 2002 and is designed to increase consumer acceptance of generics to further reduce the cost of drugs. The company expects the program to cut statewide drug costs by at least $50 million per year.
“We encourage our members to use generic drugs whenever they are available — and to ask their doctors if a generic drug would be just as effective if they’re given a prescription for a brand-name drug,” said Laura Champagne, assistant director of the UAW Social Security Department. “Why should we make drug companies rich at the expense of other health benefit needs that our retirees and active members and their families have?”
Prescription drugs account for about 10 percent of health care spending in the United States. Doctors prescribe such brand-name drugs as Xanax, an anxiety drug that costs $121 for a month’s supply, compared with about $3.83 for the generic Alprazolam.
Several other medicines, including prozac, prilosec and claritin, are among the next in line to become eligible for release in generic form.
BCBSM hopes to increase the overall generic dispensing
rate by at least one percentage point for the entire year,
which could result in savings of $17 million for its customers
— and $35 million for all Michigan residents.
