“Generics Are Powerful Medicine” Grant Awarded To USA

United Senior Action is pleased to announce the organization is one of only eleven organizations nationally named as recipients of a special consumer education grant by Community Catalyst and the Alosa Foundation. The Generics Are Powerful Medicine (GPM) program was created when two federal courts approved the use of funds from settlements of two lawsuits alleging that brand-name companies illegally attempted to keep more affordable generic drugs off the market.

“This grant will enable United Senior Action to not only educate seniors and other consumers about the effectiveness and value of generic medicines, we will also be able to involve them in our policy work to win affordable prescription drugs for all Americans,” said Ada Shaum, Chair of USA’s Medicare Task Force.

The Task Force has been the lead USA strategy group for USA’s prescription drug and related Medicare efforts for the past several years. In the past, members of the Task Force have held public forums, pushed congressional candidates to pledge to fix Medicare Part D, and have participated in national efforts to win importation.

As part of the grant, a number of educational tools are available to churches, senior centers, retirees groups and others including a brief video that will be available for group showings (much like the “Walter Cronkite Medicare D” video a few years ago).

If you would like more information about how to schedule a video showing for your group and to obtain further information about the Generics Are Powerful Medicine program, contact Matthew Greenwood at 317-634-0872, 1-800-495-0872 or mgreenwood@usaindiana.org.

About Generic Drugs

Generic drugs have become a vital tool for consumers to save money on their prescription medications. Generic drugs use the same active ingredient as brand-name drugs and are approved by the FDA. Generic drugs are as safe as the brand-name equivalent, yet much less expensive (often only 20-30% of the brand-name price). Sixty-five percent of prescriptions in the US in 2007 were filled with generics, yet they accounted for only 20% of spending on prescription drugs.

Despite the huge savings possible with generics, they are still underutilized. American consumers and the health care system could save billions of dollars increasing usage of generic drugs. With a recent study by Medco showing that more than 50% of Americans now routinely take one or more prescription drugs for a chronic condition, generics will become increasingly important. Unfortunately, many consumers have been deceived by myths about generics that have been perpetuated by the brand-name pharmaceutical industry.

Brand-name drug companies now spend more than $5 billion a year marketing to consumers and more than $20 billion a year marketing to physicians. In addition to the message about any particular drug, there is an underlying set of myths in all such advertising – the inaccurate ideas that “newer is better,” that brand-name name drugs are superior to generic drugs, and that the more expensive a drug is, the more effective it must be. GPM aims to expose and confront these myths head-on, to provide consumers with the truth about generics, and to give them the tools to make smart choices about prescription drugs.

Increasingly, health plans and pharmacies urge consumers to switch to generics. Yet consumers sometimes view these messages skeptically, seeing them as self-serving. What makes GPM unique is that its materials and messages come from sources with no such self-interest, and will be delivered by welltrusted organizations with established relationships in their communities. This will help overcome the skepticism that some consumers have about generics messages delivered by other entities.

Also, check out the Generics Are Powerful Medicine website for many useful tools and materials.