Web site offers ways to save on drug costs

Rochester physicians create portal for patients to find coupons and rebates on prescription medications.

Sofia Kosmetatos / The Detroit News

A free, new Internet site is now available to help Metro Detroiters and others save on prescription medicines.

Based in Rochester and founded by a group of physicians and health care veterans, www.optimizerx.com is a portal for patients to access coupons and rebates for brand-name prescription drugs. The site also accesses sales and other offers for savings on over-the-counter products.

The founders of the Web site said OPTIMIZERx is targeted to consumers with traditional, employer-provided health insurance who are facing increasing deductibles and co-payments.

There already are programs in place to help the underinsured or uninsured, said David Harrell, president and CEO of OPTIMIZERx Systems LLC.

"But in most cases if you have private insurance there is little help."

OPTIMIZERx lists deals for about 180 prescription drugs used to treat a range of medical problems, from allergies to sleep disorders. Each offer has different eligibility standards, but there are limitations for patients covered under government programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

The offers vary. Some are free trials of varying lengths, such as two weeks or 30 days. Other offers are redeemable only once per person, but others can be used on multiple prescription fills. Many of the offers listed on the site are available directly through pharmaceutical companies, but others are custom-made for the site, Harrell said.

Improving affordability

Harrell and three physicians formed the venture, OPTIMIZERx Systems LLC, about two years ago, and launched the site less than two weeks ago.

"Physicians recognize that affordability is a key component of compliance," said Dr. Jay Pinney, medical director for OPTIMIZERx Systems LLC. Generic drugs are the cheapest, but when they are not available, the Web site is "another tool to help improve affordability," he said.

According to an annual survey of employer health benefits by the Kaiser Family Foundation, most covered workers pay part of the cost for their prescription drugs, and most plans with cost-sharing arrangements have multitier cost-sharing in which preferred drugs have lower co-payments than non-preferred drugs. (Preferred drugs vary among insurers, but are typically those that they consider cost effective, and can include generic and brand-name drugs.)

The average co-payment amounts in plans have risen steadily over the past several years, according to the survey. From 2000 to 2006, the average co-payment for preferred drugs rose 85 percent from $13 to $24. For non-preferred drugs, the average co-payment rose 124 percent, from $17 to $38.

Patients can use the prescription drug coupons and rebates on OPTIMIZERx to eliminate or lower one or more co-payments, depending on the terms and amounts of the offers. And uninsured patients or patients with consumer-driven high deductible plans can use the deals to help contain costs.

Web site has limitations

The site is adding offers daily, but is limited in the number of drugs for which it offers deals.

"It doesn't include all the brand products by any means," said Duane Kirking, a professor in the College of Pharmacy and director of the Center for Medication Use, Policy and Economics at the University of Michigan.

Despite the limitations, Kirking sees the site as providing a service for patients "so long as someone doesn't use this to get directed toward a brand-name product instead of a generic product."

Pinney, a family practitioner based in Midland, said the Web site can benefit doctors, too, by offering an alternative to storing free samples in the office.

Samples from pharmaceutical companies can be difficult to store and track, he said, and many large institutions and group practices have stopped offering them to patients.

The site also lists about 100 deals for over the counter products, although many of these links take you to sales on the Web sites of online drugstores like www.drugstore.com.

You can reach Sofia Kosmetatos at (313) 222-2401 or skosmetatos@detnews.com.