Mylan announces new cost-saving options for EpiPen users

to partly sunny. the system that keeps us dry begins to exit the region on thursday , giving is a chance for an afternoon thunderstorm. temperatures on thursday will be in the mid-80s and skies will be partly sunny. new actions — now being taken after pharmaceutical company mylan came under fire this week. the company has pledged to make their life-saving allergy shot — sold in stores all over the country — more affordable. 47 a-b-c’s lili zheng spoke with a local pharmacist about this today and now joins us live in studio. lili — julian — the epi-pen cost around one-hundred dollars in 2009. but those who need it now — pay about six times more. despite the new options mylan has presented this morning — one local pharmacist says he’s not convinced it will benefit those who need it. track 1 unjustified. that’s how buddy richardson — a registered phamarcist at milford street pharmacy — describes the hiking of epi-pen costs from 100 dollars in 2009 to six-hundred today. 20:57:01 to put it in perspective, an actual ampule and a syringe that you would do like you did in the old days…costs about three dollars, still. i can’t imagine that this is worth 600 dollars 14 track 2 following concerns like this — 12 we’ve see these prices creep up and up every single year for so many drugs and this is just the latest glaring example 20 track 3 — mylan — the maker of the epi-pen auto-injector — announced thursday steps they say will alleviate expenses. this includes — offering a savings card for up to 300 dollars for patients who have to pay the full price for the drug out of pocket. and — doubling eligibility for their patient assistance program to 400 percent of the federal poverty level. so a family of four making up to 97-thousand 200 dollars — would pay nothing out of pocket. in a statement on the website — companyceo heather bresch says in part quote “we recognize the significant burden on patients from continued, rising insurance premiums and being forced increasingly to pay the full list price for medicines at the pharmacy counter. patients deserve increased price transparency and affordable care, particularly as the system shifts significant costs to them. however, price is only one part of the problem.” track 4 but the problem — according to richardson — is options like the savings card still leaves a big price pay. and for some — it’s a matter of life and death. 20:57:57 this is like a life-saving medication and to make it accessible to everyone, to have it in the schools, to have it in the patient’s hand, in the parent’s hands, it needs to be a reasonable price 09 mylan says — it also plans to continue their epipen-for-schools program. it was launched in 20-12 — and has provided more than seven-hundred thousand epi-pens to schools nationwide. julian — alright — thank you, lili. that’s 47 a-b-c’s lili zheng reporting live in our studio tonight. now according to the milford street pharmacy — there is an alternative epi-pen that folks can use. most pharmacies will offer a generic alternative to medications. the problem — according to a pharmacist 47 abc spoke — is that the generic epi-pen has a pretty big price-tag. we’re told it generally sells for about four-hundred dollars. and because there is no emergency drug that could replace it — patients either have to pay the price — or be left without. that is — unless they receive some sort of assistance. 20:59:23 many people who have medical assistance or one of those obamacare plans, they might not have a high deductible and they may be able to afford it 33 in the interest of price transparency– mylan has also announced they are providing the entire economic story of the epi-pen supply chain on their website. you can find a link to that on our website — 47 a-b-c dot com. coming up – we’llhave the latest the central italy