Posts Tagged: specialty

Affordable health care threatened by hospitals’ mark-up costs

Photo illustration of money and medical care. (Image: ShutterstockProfessional, via Shutterstock)

by BETTY JO TOCCOLI posted 06.13.2022

OPINION: If passed, SB 958 would severely limit specialty pharmacies’ ability to deliver lower cost medications to patients, while also making it even easier for hospitals to markup the cost they charge patients for critical medications, and in the end, we would see higher health care premiums for California’s employers and individuals.

OPINION: Rather than paying a fixed copayment, Californians whose medications are placed on specialty tiers are often forced to pay coinsurance – or a percentage of the total cost of the drugs – which can mean hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month in out-of-pocket costs for a single medication.