It’s about time for some good news isn’t it? It’s no secret that our office has struggled with the prescription prices for our patients. Often times we give them a coupon code to use Canadian pharmacies just to reduce their out of pocket costs. Is it right we should have to send our own people to out of the country pharmacies? Answer: It’s not and we’ve been fed up for years. Finally there is some relief to these pain points!

Our government just signed four Executive Orders that aim to lower prescription drug pricing for all Americans. The Executive Branch of the government directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to take several steps to ensure American patients receive lower costs on prescription drugs, including epinephrine and insulin. This is a major win! Finally, some good news.

It gets even better for Medicare patients. This Executive Order will cut out the middlemen that hike up the out-of-pocket costs for Medicare patients and pass those discounts back onto the patient. Specifically, those enrolled in Medicare Part B and D will see lower prescription costs. In 2018 the Part D discounts totaled more than 30 billion in patient savings.

Life-saving medications should not drain our pocketbooks. Effective healthcare means affordable pricing for ALL patients and we are one step closer to achieving that. With the state of the world, this news has made our office jump and yell ‘hooray!’ It’s about time.

Another notable win for the healthcare field is an Executive Order regarding the Right to Try. This order outlines that terminal Americans should not have to go from country to country to find a cure. The Right to Try legislation returns the power back to the patient. It used to be that terminally ill patients would be considered ‘too sick’ to participate in a wide range of clinical trials; however, with this legislation patients can have access to potentially life-saving drugs and have the tools to try to extend their life. The FDA will be posting a yearly report of the trials under the Right to Try medications for the public to look into. It’s about time we start limiting drug sponsors, manufacturers and dispensers that have previously declined to provide an investigational drug to a now eligible patient.

Sometimes, even in the middle of a chaotic world, there is a silver lining to be found. We believe these are major moves that will directly affect our patients and we couldn’t be happier to share the news with you. No matter what your political views are, sunshine can be found even in the darkest of storms.