The Cost of a Competing Product to EpiPen Is Just Astronomical
The controversy over the EpiPen still affects millions of families. This update doesn't appear to be good news.
I first blogged about the huge concerns over the high price of the EpiPen back in Aug. of 2016. My follow up story, "How Much Longer Until There's a Cheaper EpiPen" was published on Oct. 4 2016. As of January 2017, there is a new development, but it doesn't appear to be any kind of help for people that need the life saving epinephrine injection.
According to cnbc.com a competitor to Mylan's EpiPen is coming back on the market at a much higher price.
Auvi-Q, is due to be available to the public on Feb. 14 and is set to cost $4,500 for two auto-injectors. Kaleo, the maker of Auvi-Q, is claiming that insurers will absorb the high cost of its product but they aren't saying which insurance companies are actually agreeing to that. They claim their plan would mean consumers would pay anywhere from nothing to a maximum of 360-dollars.
The balancing act of how Kaleo appears to have constructed this scheme according to the story on cnbc.com really has to be read to be believed. At then end of the day though it looks to me like once again people in need will get screwed.
Mylan's EpiPen has been taking heat for a long time now for pushing up its list price for a twin-pack to 609-dollars.
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