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Asthma patients scramble as inhaler prices skyrocket amid allergy season

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Published  March 27, 2024 11:39pm EDT
Health
FOX 5 Atlanta

Inhaler prices skyrocket as pollen falls

Many patients cannot pay the high cost at the time they need their medication most. Medical professionals say some asthma and allergy sufferers are going without the medication they need.

ATLANTA - Prices are rising sharply on many asthma inhalers just in time for spring allergy season and some insurance companies are not covering the higher costs, and many patients cannot afford the high price tag. 

Kathy Stancil takes a puff from her inhaler every single day. "I use the inhalers to keep control of my asthma, so it does not get out of hand," said Stancil, a registered nurse and an asthma patient. 

"I was on Advair and had been on Advair for a long period of time," Stancil said. She suffered sticker shock when she found out the price of her controller inhaler skyrocketed. "Three hundred dollars for one inhaler that you would use for one month."

Stancil is one of scores of asthma patients who have scrambled or are scrambling to figure out how to pay the rising cost of inhalers. "I can’t afford that every single month," Stancil said.

Inhaler (FILE)

Prices are shooting up just as the pollen falls during allergy season. "Something that was affordable 10, 15 bucks back in December can suddenly become $200, $300, even $400 in January," said Dr. Christopher Chu, an allergist with Atlanta Allergy and Asthma. 

Many patients cannot pay the high cost at the time they need their medication most. Medical professionals say some asthma and allergy sufferers are going without the medication they need. "I see it very often," Dr. Chu said. 

A number of pharmaceutical companies are raising their prices, especially for controller inhalers that help prevent future attacks. Insurance companies often are not covering the increased cost. "Fortunately, some of my patients can afford their inhalers, many cannot," Dr. Chu said. "It’s not great, especially as patients really need their asthma medications."

Inhaler (FILE)

"If it’s not controlled, you’re just waiting for a bad asthma attack to happen," Stancil said. "It could be deadly." 

Stancil was able to get a new, more affordable prescription, Symbicort. "I called my doctor, and she changed me to a different medication." 

Several pharmaceutical companies have said they would cap out-of-pocket costs for inhalers at $35 a month for eligible patients, after lawmakers investigated drugmakers for high prices.