When Beth Waldron got a letter from her health insurance provider last year that her blood thinner Eliquis would no longer be covered, she faced two options: Change to another medication that could have adverse side effects or go from paying $30 a month to more than $600 a month out of pocket.
She didn’t know initially that the maker of Eliquis offers a co-pay coupon card that allows patients to get the drug for only $10 a month.
She also didn’t know that the card, like many patient assistance programs offered by drugmakers, came with a lot of fine print. Patient assistance programs and manufacturer co-pay coupons, intended to help those who cannot afford their medications, have come under scrutiny for being a short-term solution to the much larger problem of prescription drug prices that are bleeding patients dry.
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