Relentless Health Value

I have been on a mission to figure out why some health systems, particularly in the oncology space but not limited to the oncology space, could manage to mark up the price of infused specialty pharmacy drugs up to 6x. Some employers and patients are paying six times the cost of a specialty pharmacy drug in markup for some already incredibly expensive specialty pharmacy drug at some oncology centers. Read more about this in a study by Roy Xiao, MD, and colleagues. Let’s not forget now or ever that financial toxicity is clinical toxicity. This 6x is exactly how financial toxicity is operationalized. Many patients are charged a coinsurance percentage based on their cost of care, after all; and like 20% of 6x is a huge number, it is a huge bankrupting bill for some patients—maybe many patients. That, plus their premiums go up because, of course, their employers are picking up the remaining 80% of that 600% markup. Families are already, on average, paying I think it’s $22,000 in premium; and the trend line on that