Prescription costs and co-pay accumulators

What are co-pay accumulator programs and how do they affect the cost of your prescriptions?

To help temper high prescription costs, many individuals living with primary immunodeficiencies (PI) receive co-pay assistance. These individuals enroll in and rely on these assistance programs offered by the manufacturer that produces their specialty medication, to help with their co-pays, for which they would usually pay out-of-pocket. However, there has been a rise in the prevalence of co-pay accumulator programs. These programs are a health insurance benefit design option in some plans that stipulate that payment from these manufacturer assistance programs are not to be counted toward individuals’ deductibles or out-of-pocket maximums, thus eliminating any long-term benefit of these programs to the patients.

Watch our latest video to learn more about how co-pay accumulators shift the costs of prescription drugs from insurance companies back to patients, and what you can do to help.