Jewish artments services meds or maybe skip meals. It's not difficult to guess what the result will be at her next medical appointment. Prescriptions cost! Spending on pre- scription drugs rose to .$131.9 billion in 2000 from $111.1 billion in 1999, according to a report by the National Institute for Health Care Management, a nonprofit group funded in part by health-insurance providers. Much of the increase was driven by a shift to newer, more expensive prod- ucts. Half of the increase occurred among eight types of drugs, with those for high cholesterol, depression and arthritis in the lead. Mayer Gluzman, a piano technician in West Bloomfield, has prescription coverage with Blue Cross/Blue Shield, but he still pays over $400 a month to his local pharmacy. "I could have gone with an insurance plan, which covered more of the prescription costs, but then the premiums cost more so I'm not ahead." Shirlee Rosin and her late husband, Harold, spent over $5,000 a year in prescription costs alone. "One of our prescriptions was for a two-week sup- ply of 14 pills that cost $237 — and that was with insurance." The average costs of prescription medicine have skyrocketed over the past few years. "Part of the problem is that doctors and patients are often requesting the newest drug for a par- ticular condition. The new drugs are the most expensive when an older, less expensive alternative would do just as well," explains Dave Efros of Efros- Savon Drugs in West Bloomfield. "We are bombarded with TV and I media ads for the purple pill, Nexium, for heartburn and acid reflex. Nexium is $4.50 a pill. Zantac, which has been around for some time, costs 20 cents a pill," he says. Efros has been a pharmacist for more than 30 years and understands that pharmaceutical companies need to recover their research and develop- ment costs for a new drug and show a profit to shareholders. "By the same token, the pharmaceuticals spend mil- lions on advertising and on perks for physicians, ranging from dinners to cruises and vacations often thinly dis- guised as continuing education semi- nars," he says: "There are ways to cut costs." Rosalie Lieberman, a licensed health underwriter, says, "Making matters even worse is the health maintenance organizations have limited the drugs that are covered in your insurance plan. The physician has to call the HMO if she wants her patient to be on a drug that's not covered. The end result is you have someone non-med- ical telling your physician what she can and cannot do." Southfield-based Jewish Family Service has a small program that helps pay for a client's medication, food and utilities. "Prescription costs are going up, but the income of the elderly stays the same," says Debra Edwards, JFS' assistant director of senior services and administrator of the financial resource program. "There's no one easy answer," she • says, "and there's no one major fund- ing source. For instance, the state has an emergency prescription program [EPIC], but its funding activities are Ways to lower prescription costs: • Explore your options — you're not necessarily stuck. • Shop around for the drugstore that gives you good service and good 'icing. Ask the pharmacist: Is there a less expensive medication that works me way as the prescribed medication and does the same thing? k your physician for samples. organizations that have prescription discount programs such as erican Association of Retired Persons. If you're over 49, AARP fers discounts on mail-in orders. e pharmaceutical companies give discounts to people in financial need. Talk to your physician because the program is carried out through he physician's office. • Join a prescription program from Canada. To call Can-Am Rx from aside Michigan: (877) 226-2630. Can-Am Rx from outside Michigan: (313) 875-9010. • Sign up for a Michigan county discount program. Oakland County's Prescription Savings Program: (866) 731 - 7213. ; Norma Jean and Edward Meer Jewish Apartments 6760 West Maple Road West Bloomfield, MI. 48322 Experience active living at its best in a Jewish communal atmosphere. Meer II now open, one bedroom units are now available for you to tour. Call our leasing office at (248) 788-2883 Join us for all the fun as we feature Emmy- nominated Celtic musician— Kitty Donohoe, musical author of "There are no Words"—as well as delicious strawberry desserts! Sunday, June 23, 2-4 p.m. at THE FOUNTAINS AT FRANK LI /-' --N Call today for more informatio n or to R.S.V.P T HE FOUNTAINS AT FRANKLIN Retirement Living • Assisted Living • Alzheimer's Care L') (248) 353-2810 28301 Franklin Road • Southfield, Michigan 48034 www.thefOuntains.com 6/21 < ,20 2002 97