Intermountain Healthcare Pharmacy Services Working to Help Make Medications More Affordable for Patients

With medication prices on the rise, people are often faced with the hard choice to fill or not fill their prescriptions. This decision is true for a lot of people that use EpiPens – in which the cost of the device recently skyrocketed from less than $100 to more than $600. 

As challenges to pay for medications become more and more common, Intermountain Healthcare Pharmacy Services has taken measures to help patients afford their medications. From hospital-assembled “epi-kits,” to readily available naloxone, to even a charity prescription program in which patients do not pay for their prescriptions, Intermountain Healthcare Pharmacy Services continues to look for ways to help patients live the healthiest lives possible.

“Our prescription medication affordability measures align with our mission of helping people live the healthiest lives possible,” said Nannette Berensen, Assistant Vice President for Intermountain Healthcare Pharmacy Services. “A patient’s positive health outcome is often dependent upon their medication adherence.  A patient should not have to risk their health because they cannot afford their medications, and Intermountain Healthcare Pharmacy Services is committed to finding innovative ways to address prescription medication affordability.” 

Some of the measures that Intermountain Healthcare Pharmacy Services has taken to bring down prescription medication costs include:

• Creation of epinephrine kits (which do the same job as an EpiPen) for use within Intermountain Healthcare.
• Creation of kits that contain naloxone (medication that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose) and implementation of a system wide naloxone collaborative practice agreement that allows pharmacists to dispense naloxone without a prescription from all Intermountain Healthcare Community Pharmacies so patients, family members or concerned citizens can easily and quickly purchase naloxone at an affordable price.
• Intermountain Healthcare Specialty Pharmacy works to bring down the overall medication costs – often eliminating patients’ copays on expensive medications.
• A Charity Prescription Program for Utahns where qualifying patients do not pay for their prescriptions and Intermountain Healthcare incurs the cost. 

“Ensuring access to and affordability of healthcare services has always been and will always be a central focus of Intermountain Healthcare. Medications only work in people who take them, people only take their medications if they have them, and they will only have them if they can afford them. Intermountain Healthcare Pharmacy Services is committed to finding new ways to make prescription medications affordable for those we serve, said Berensen.”  

For an Intermountain Pharmacy location near you, go to https://intermountainhealthcare.org/services/pharmacy/locations.