Generic Medications More Widely Available
Generic medications are more widely available than ever before. Why is this important? While these brand-name equivalents contain the same active ingedients as those found in popular branded medication they offer tremendous savings to you and to the AlaskaCare Health Plan.
With so many FDA tested generics available today, there is no better time to talk to your local pharmacist about generic medication options for you. For active members, your copay at a local pharmacy is 20% of the drug cost so reducing the drug cost reduces your copay. For retired members, your generic drug copay is $4, one-half the copay for brand name drug.
Some newly available generic drugs include Aricept, Cozaar/Hyzaar, Effexor XR, Flomax and Zyprexa.
Generic Drug Savings
AlaskaCare Members who selected generic drugs in 2010 saved:
- Active Plan Savings $414,474.69
- Retiree Plan Savings $6,715,462.00
- Total AlaskaCare Savings $7,129,936.69
Generic Medications More Widely Available HealthMatters article [PDF]