The rising price of prescription drugs combined with higher copays and coinsurance rates are shifting more and more of the cost burden of staying healthy to patients. That’s why Medisafe, a mHealth platform for medication management with 2 million users, has partnered with GoodRx, America’s leading prescription price comparison platform. This partnership enables consumers to easily compare prescription drug costs at over 60,000 pharmacies across the U.S. from within the Medisafe app.
Medisafe users often talk about how the app has helped them to remember to take their medications as prescribed and increase their overall health. What often goes unsaid is whether or not they can truly afford their medications and how cost may affect the choices they make. With studies showing that 40% of Americans took risks with their prescriptions due to cost, Medisafe wanted to help users address rising drug costs.
“Higher copays and coinsurance rates from public health exchanges and private insurers are putting a heavy financial burden on consumers. That’s not healthy for them, and it’s not healthy for our healthcare system overall,” said Jon Michaeli, EVP Marketing and Business Development for Medisafe. “Numerous studies have linked higher medication costs to lower adherence. Working with GoodRx, we can reverse this trend with an economic impact of billions of dollars in savings annually.”
One study found that patients with chronic conditions (e.g., diabetes) decreased their use of medication by up to 23 percent in reaction to the doubling of copayments. With leading pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) adding to their formulary exclusion lists (i.e., those prescriptions ineligible for insurance coverage), patients are increasingly forced to decide between alternate medication not prescribed by their doctor and opting out of treatment altogether.
“GoodRx is excited to join forces with Medisafe to help more consumers save money on their prescriptions,” said Doug Hirsch, co-founder and co-CEO of GoodRx. “By integrating our database of millions of prescription prices and discounts with the Medisafe app’s advanced medication management platform, we are making it easier than ever for the 70 percent of Americans who regularly take a prescription drug to adhere to their medication schedules.”
More than just a pill organizer, Medisafe makes it easy to adhere to the most complicated medication schedules, enables care collaboration between a patient, their loved ones and physicians, and delivers content and services personalized to specific conditions and situations. Medisafe’s 2 million users have recorded over 160 million successful medication doses on their iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, leading to 80,000 user reviews that average 4.5 out of 5 stars in the iTunes and Google Play app stores.
