Prescription savings for blood thinners: Xarelto, Eliquis, and Pradaxa
Blood thinners are life saving prescriptions which prevent blood clots capable of causing cardiovascular events, pulmonary embolisms, or stroke.
Historically, blood thinners were generic and very inexpensive (such as Warfarin) but required frequent lab monitoring for toxicity levels.
Since then, new classes of blood thinners were introduced requiring less monitoring and hence more convenience such as Xarelto, Eliquis, and Pradaxa.
According to 2020 industry reports, the average cost of developing a new prescription is approximately $1.3 billion. Given the astronomical cost of research and development, pharmaceutical companies are allowed a monopoly on their medication through patents for a certain amount of time. During this period, companies can charge a significant cost to consumers to recoup research and development (and to profit of course).
The average retail cost of the new blood thinners tends to average about $500/month or about $6000/year.
Most insurance plans will place them in either tiers 3 or 4 (brand name tiers). This means that depending on deductibles, copays and the donut hole, most individuals will pay anywhere from $800-1400 on average each year out of pocket.
So what can you do to reduce your co-pays?
Unfortunately pharmaceutical coupons do not work with Medicare. However, many pharmaceutical companies and nonprofits have set up separate foundations to provide funding to offset some or all of the out pocket expenses for consumers.
The catch here is that the process to apply is a bit more involved than downloading a coupon. You’ll have to reach out to your prescribing provider to have their office sign off on a pharmaceutical assistance application. Oftentimes, the programs can be limited based on your household income. There’s no cost to apply so if you are taking one of these more expensive blood thinners, we’d recommend that you give them a try.
For more information about the various programs:
Eliquis
https://www.needymeds.org/brand-drug/name/Eliquis
Xarelto
https://www.needymeds.org/brand-drug/name/Xarelto
Pradaxa
https://www.needymeds.org/brand-drug/name/Pradaxa