August 23rd, 2011

From Kaiser Health News:

For Judy Ariba, one of the most harrowing moments in her battle against a rare form of leukemia occurred after she had already endured a long hospital stay and grueling chemotherapy: Her bill for a prescription cancer drug jumped from $10 to $1,700 a month.

“No one has $1,700 a month,” said Ariba, 63, of Siloam Springs, Ark. “I sat here and cried for a while, thinking ‘I’ve gone through all this, and now I will get sicker and die.’”

Ariba’s drug costs soared because her former employer, a Florida-based construction firm, switched to a new health plan that required her to shoulder 25 percent of the $6,800 monthly cost of Tretinoin, a drug for acute promyelocytic leukemia.

Ariba was caught in one of the most difficult issues facing employers and consumers who pay for health insurance: How to deal with an increasing number of expensive “specialty” drugs for conditions ranging from cancer to multiple sclerosis.

The drugs offer hope for curing or managing diseases, but carry hefty price tags. Employers’ spending on specialty drugs, for example, is rising by double digits each year.

Read more from Kaiser Health News