Welcome to Greenback Health: What’s Your Story?

Greenback Health


July 1.2022

Welcome to Greenback Health: What’s your story?

“The price went up…again?”
 
“Did you run it through my insurance?”
 
“You mean this is the cost with my insurance?”
 
“That’s more than I can afford this month. Is there something cheaper?”
 
“Just put it back on the shelf and give me my prescription back. What do I do now? I need my medicine…”

 

If you’ve ever attempted to fill a prescription at a pharmacy, these quotes may be yours. These questions and interactions occur in pharmacies across America on a daily basis and serve as our motivation to facilitate change. Welcome to Greenback Health, where we strive to create a world where those who receive healthcare are receiving the most market-competitive, transparently-derived, and affordable-to-them price.

A Shared Purpose

Our story includes everyone who has either paid in excess for, or has been unable to afford, a prescription. Our story includes knowing something has been wrong for a while, and it only seems to be getting worse. Our story includes wanting to know the why behind the what, and knowing what can be done about it.

Our story is Greenback Health’s inspiration that drives our motivation for leading change. Greenback Health was founded by a pharmacist and is led by industry experts who’ve a created a solution for those struggling to afford their medications.

The Great Cost-Share Shift

Americans fill 4.5 billion prescriptions per year, a number only projected to increase. Drug prices are complicated, inconsistent, and lack transparency. Some suggest the complexity and lack of transparency have been meticulously designed. This complexity results in nearly 1 in 4 Americans who can’t afford their prescriptions. In essence, 1 in 4 Americans can’t afford to get healthy. This is what motivates us. We’re here to simplify the drug pricing ecosystem for the consumer and make an impact in at least one person’s life.

The patient is always the payer

Healthcare consumerism is a term that has been thrown around for over a decade. It is a concept intended to improve the efficiency of healthcare services while lowering costs. One definition from the Institute for HealthCare Consumerism’s IHC Forum includes “transforming an employer’s health benefit plan into one that puts economic purchasing power—and decision-making—in the hands of participants. It’s about supplying the information and decision support tools they need, along with financial incentives, rewards, and other benefits that encourage personal involvement in altering health and healthcare purchasing behaviors.” In short, if a patient is provided the proper tools and financial motivation, they can become a fully informed patient, and a fully informed patient will exhibit consumer-like behavior that should lower costs.

Paying more

One consequence of the healthcare consumerism is insurers have sought to introduce “financial incentives” by creating plan designs (i.e. high-deductible health plans, co-insurances, benefit exclusions, etc.) to shift increased cost-share to the member. Of note:

  • Over 85% of Commercially-insured members have an annual deductible.
  • Average annual deductible is $4,500/year per family, which has more than doubled since 2010.
  • Premiums and deductibles added up to more than 11% of the median household income in 2020.

The increasing presence of deductibles, the deductible threshold, and the cost-share on both brands and generics results in an increased percentage of costs being paid for outside of a member’s insurance plan (a common misnomer is that being “processed” by the insurance does not necessarily mean “paid” by the insurance). This cost-share shift to the member, without also providing proper decision-making tools, only leaves the member uninformed and stuck with higher out-of-pocket costs.

Be Empowered to get Green Back

There are an unprecedented number of options that can be considered instead of, or in conjunction with, an insurance benefit to lower costs. These include free discount cards like PriceMyMeds, manufacturer copay coupons, patient assistance programs, and cash pharmacies. Greenback Health has created innovative technology solutions that simplifies options to empower members. We’d love to hear your story and see if we can make it a part of our future story of success. Contact us and ask how Greenback Health can help.