Cigna Health Insurance Will Not Cover Epipens Anymore
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Cigna, the health insurance giant, announced that it will not provide coverage for brand name EpiPen anymore. This Mylan epinephrine autoinjector is a popular life-saving drug to fight allergic reactions and its two-pack costs $607. Recently, CVS has launched a cheaper and generic version of EpiPen called AdrenaClick which delivers the same drug and the same dosage and costs just $109 for a two-pack. Cigna will just cover AdrenaClick from now on.
Latinos Health had earlier reported that EpiPens and AdrenaClick might not be therapeutically equivalent to each other. Hence, not all states allow patients to make the switch between the two brands.
Cigna spokeswoman Karen Eldred insists that the new epinephrine auto-injector means substantial cost savings for patients who need it to treat life-threatening allergies. CVS's AdrenaClick is now available in the pharmacies and drug stores.
The NBC News reported that the EpiPen price hike is at the epicenter of the growing public outrage. Mylan had been raising EpiPen prices at a rate of more than 25% every year. Since it is used as emergency allergic reaction intervention, patients are forced to cough up whatever the pharmaceutical company charges them. Earlier, it was reported that the actual cost for each EpiPen is just about $30.
Mylan tried to do some damage control by introducing a generic version of its own product at half the price, offering $300 discount coupons to its customers and offer patient access programs. Still, CVS drug store chain launched AdrenaClick which costs one-third of the cheaper Mylan product and won the round.
Peter Maybarduk, director of the Access to Medicines group for Public Citizen, said, "CVS and Cigna are looking through the aggressive marketing tactics (of Mylan) and asking why it's worth it to pay twice for the same product." Present-elect Donald Trump also said that the government will now negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies to make them cut the drug prices.
