The Price Of Health

A WBUR series exploring why drug prices are so high, and what might be done about it

Questions Surround The Role Of Pharmacy Benefit Managers In Driving Drug Prices

A recent report from the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission raises concerns that PBMs may be driving up costs associated with prescription medicines.

Local Coverage

06:38Jun 28, 2019

Deidre Waxman, who has type 1 diabetes, speaks during a rally outside the State House on June 12. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Massachusetts, The Innovation Hub, Debates Aggressive Drug Price Controls

One contentious provision that's been floated: price caps for drugs with costs found to be "excessive or unreasonable."

Local Coverage

04:34Jun 28, 2019

Harvard researcher Doug Melton holds a vial of insulin-producing cells made in his lab. (Karen Weintraub)

The Quest To Cure Diabetes: From Insulin To The Body's Own Cells

“I thought by now I would have cured the disease,” says Harvard University's Doug Melton, one of the leading diabetes researchers in the U.S. “It's taken much longer than I...

Local Coverage

05:13Jun 27, 2019

Steven Pearson is the founder and president of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, which aims to calculate fair prices for drugs. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Mouse Among Health Care Elephants: Boston Nonprofit Calls Out 'Unfair' Drug Prices

ICER -- filling a role that government agencies fill in other developed countries -- is an increasingly influential player in the furious fight over high American drug prices.

Local Coverage

06:34Jun 26, 2019

Mass. Residents Want Government Action On High Drug Prices

It seems that when it comes to drug prices, the sense of unfairly high prices or predatory practices extends beyond one’s own pocketbook.

Local Coverage

Jun 25, 2019

In this 2017 file photo, a woman with Type 2 diabetes prepares to inject herself with insulin at her home in Las Vegas. (John Locher/AP)

Ending The Cycle Of Drug Price Hikes, Death And Outrage

The high cost of prescription drugs is a systemic problem, writes Sarah Ruth Bates, driven by under-regulation and the misplaced incentives of pharmaceutical companies.

Cognoscenti

Jun 25, 2019

The retail price for the insulin Tresiba is $3,590.99 for a 90-day supply. Everett resident Joanne Rhoton's prescription co-pay is $90. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Why Insulin Defies The Normal Rules Of Economics And Keeps Getting More Expensive

The first fast-acting insulin hit the market in 1996, the same year as the Nintendo 64. The video game system got progressively cheaper, but a vial of insulin that originally...

Local Coverage

06:47Jun 25, 2019

CVS pharmacist Lucy Charlene Wafo reviews Joanne Rhoton's insurance coverage for the prescription order she just picked up. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

This Mass. Woman Has 2 Insurance Plans. She's Still Struggling To Pay For Prescriptions

“When you're up backed up against a wall, I mean you have to do something,” says Everett resident Joanne Rhoton. “And I'm sure that I'm not the only person that...

Local Coverage

05:27Jun 24, 2019

WBUR Poll: 76% Of Mass. Residents Think Drug Prices Are Unreasonable

Another finding: Nearly one in three reported that it is somewhat or very difficult to afford their prescription drugs.

Local Coverage

Jun 24, 2019