{"id":2607,"date":"2010-04-15T06:38:28","date_gmt":"2010-04-15T11:38:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/?p=2607"},"modified":"2010-06-16T06:21:56","modified_gmt":"2010-06-16T11:21:56","slug":"generic-vs-name-brand-drugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/2010\/04\/generic-vs-name-brand-drugs\/","title":{"rendered":"GENERIC VS. BRAND NAME DRUGS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-2608\" title=\"bigstockphoto_prescription_costs_4737819\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/bigstockphoto_prescription_costs_4737819-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \>Save with generic drugs<\/a>, they are the same as brand name drugs in dosage, safety, active ingredients, and quality. <span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0<\/span>Generic co-pays are usually lower too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;\">When a pharmaceutical company develops a new drug, it gets a patent that allows it to be the only seller of that drug. When the patent expires, other companies can offer medications with the same active ingredient which are referred to as generic drugs, and they are generally less expensive, they could be as much as 75% percent less than their brand name equivalents. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;\">Generic drugs are approved by the FDA, and are identical to brand name drugs in terms of quality. Generic drugs also have active drug ingredients that are identical to their brand name equivalents. In fact, the FDA reviews data showing the drug is bioequivalent to the brand name drug, monitors manufacturing practices of the drug, and reviews the active and inactive ingredients used in the drug before it is marketed. <!--more--><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;\">Your <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\" target=\"_blank\">co-payment<\/a> for a generic drug is generally less than for a preferred or non-preferred brand name prescription drug.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>It also could be less than your actual co-payment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;\">About half of brand name drugs have generic equivalents, so the next time your doctor is writing a prescription make sure to ask if a generic is available. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: small; font-family: Times New Roman;\">The information contained herein is not a substitute for medical advice. It is only for reference and should not be used to determine treatment for your specific medical condition. Only a health care provider can do this. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 7.5pt; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana;\"><span style=\"font-size: 7.5pt; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana;\">For more information on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">health insurance coverage in North Carolina<\/a>, please visit our website at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/\">www.nchealthplans.com<\/a> or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our qualified agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). <\/a>You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health. Call us for details.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Save with generic drugs, they are the same as brand name drugs in dosage, safety, active ingredients, and quality. \u00a0Generic co-pays are usually lower too. \u00a0 When a pharmaceutical company develops a new drug, it gets a patent that allows it to be the only seller of that drug. When the patent expires, other companies [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[23,152,178,323,322],"class_list":["post-2607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bcbsnc-insurance","tag-bcbsnc","tag-blue-cross-blue-shield-of-nc","tag-brand-name-drugs","tag-co-payments","tag-drugs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2607"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2889,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2607\/revisions\/2889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}