Innovations in medicine threaten to kill medical schemes with costs
THE high cost of new medicine for chronic diseases was threatening the sustainability of SA’s medical aid industry, delegates attending the Discovery Health Summit on Medicine in Johannesburg on Tuesday heard.Unless something was done urgently, rapidly rising medical aid premiums would never be contained.Medical schemes have come under severe pressure from the cost of treatments for illnesses such as cancer, diabetes and hypertension as global pharmaceutical companies launch new drugs at prices that developing countries are battling to afford.Gilead’s Sovaldi, which is used for the treatment of hepatitis C, has generated heated debate across the world with its price tag of US$84,000 for a 12-week course.Cancer is a particularly big issue, with estimates by research firm IMS that spending on all oncology drugs will reach $100bn in 2018, up from $65bn in 2013."High-cost drugs are a big issue. As Discovery Health, we are tremendously worried about the impact of these new oncology drugs...
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