About Generics

Remember to think generic and save

We all like to save money whenever possible. With the dramatic rise in health care costs, that’s become increasingly important.

One of the simplest things your patients can do to save on prescription expenses is to ask you if there’s a generic alternative for any brand medication they are taking.

Marketing firms want consumers to believe the mistaken notion that generics are somehow of inferior quality. In fact, the FDA requires that generics meet the same strict standards of safety and effectiveness as the equivalent brand name drug. The generic may be a different shape or color than the expensive brand name, but the active ingredients inside remain the same—and that’s what counts!

Pharmaceutical companies spend a lot of money on advertising, trying to convince consumers their brand name drugs are somehow superior. Direct-to-consumer advertising cost them $16 billion in the year 2000.

Patents on brand name drugs are of a limited duration (usually 20 years). Once the patent has expired, any manufacturer may make and market their own “generic” version of the medication. These generics must contain the same active ingredients and meet the same exacting FDA standards as the original, but usually cost significantly less.

Let’s look at a couple of dramatic examples (figures drawn from RegenceRx utilization data):

Fluoxetine and diazepam may not have the familiar ring of Prozac and Valium for patients (that’s marketing at work)—but look at the money this could save your patients! View additional differences in brand-name vs. generic medication costs.

It’s estimated that about half the drugs on the market have a generic equivalent. So you can understand why RegenceRx has become increasingly aggressive about promoting the use of generics. It’s such an easy and effective way to help check rising health insurance expenses without sacrificing quality of care.

You’ll find that RegenceRx places most all generic drugs on our Preferred Medication List/Formulary, which means they’re available to our members for the lowest copay. Saving our members money saves us money, too.

Help control rising health care costs by remembering to think generic!

We created some great additional resources to help you educate your patients about brand and generic medications. You can print out single page handouts for your patients or post them in your office.

• Brand-name vs. Generic Comparison
• Generic Posters for Office Use

For additional information: A Primer: Generic Drugs, Patents and the Pharmaceutical Marketplace from the National Institute for Health Care Management