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You shouldn't have to choose between filling your prescriptions and paying bills

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    Every day in this country,
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    families are forced to make
    impossible choices
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    when it comes to their health care,
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    like Kimberly, who said,
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    "There was times I had to choose
    between my food and my pills.
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    It wasn't luxury stuff,
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    because I didn't make that much.
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    It was like, can I get
    shampoo or conditioner?
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    Things you take for granted.
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    And Debbie, who said,
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    "You put your medicine in one hand,
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    your living costs in the other.
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    OK, well what am I gonna do?
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    Am I gonna get my medicine
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    or am I gonna pay my bills?
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    Well, I can't live without my medicine,
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    but I can't live if I don't pay my bills."
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    Ten thousand people die
    every month in this country
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    because they don't take
    the medicine that they need.
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    More people die
    from not taking medications
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    than opioid overdoses
    and car accidents combined.
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    But you can't take medicine
    if you can't afford it.
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    Today, the average household
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    spends 3,000 dollars
    a year on medications.
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    About a third of folks who are uninsured
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    said that they stopped
    taking medicine as prescribed
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    because of cost.
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    Even folks with insurance,
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    if they make under 35,000 dollars a year,
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    half of them report
    skipping the medications
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    if their insurance doesn't cover it.
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    So there are 10 million adults
    like Kimberly and like Debbie
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    who are forced to make
    impossible choices every day.
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    We all know that prescription
    drug prices are too high,
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    and our health care system,
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    that makes some folks uninsured
    and other folks underinsured,
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    doesn't prioritize
    people who need access now
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    and need medications now.
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    Ten million, it's a big number,
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    but it's also a solvable number,
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    because there's also 10 billion dollars
    of perfectly good unused medication
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    that goes to waste.
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    So this is an injustice on two sides:
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    people not getting the medicine
    that they need to survive and to thrive,
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    and that very same medication
    being sent to a medical waste incinerator
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    to be destroyed.
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    This waste is unconscionable,
    but it also offers an opportunity.
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    I started SIRUM,
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    a not for profit technology company,
    with my cofounders Adam and George,
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    to turn discarded medications
    into a lifeline
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    just like the medications
    in this warehouse.
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    We may not be able to fix
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    all the ways in which
    our health care system is failing us,
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    but we can fix this one.
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    Medications come from manufacturers
    and wholesalers who have safety stock,
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    and when it's short-dated,
    they destroy it.
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    It also comes from health care facilities
    like hospitals, pharmacies
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    and nursing homes
    who end up with surplus
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    when a patient stops taking medication
    or when they pass away.
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    We can use this untapped
    source of medications
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    to supply all 10 million people
    who need medications,
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    and we can do this today.
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    SIRUM gets surplus medications
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    by putting recycling bins into
    these hundreds of facilities
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    that have surplus.
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    They fill the bin,
    and when the box is full,
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    SIRUM initiates a courier pickup
    to pick up that medication,
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    and we handle the shipping, the tracking,
    the manifests, and the tax receipt.
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    Medicine donors want to donate
    because it's actually cheaper an easier
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    than the highly regulated
    medicine destruction process,
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    and there are strong tax incentives
    to actually donate.
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    We then deliver those donated
    medications to people who need it.
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    A new prescription comes in,
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    and our platform matches that patient need
    with the inventory that's available.
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    Our platform then generates
    a warehouse pick list,
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    the medications are picked
    and the prescriptions filled.
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    We are building the 21st century's
    pharmacy experience
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    that low-income families deserve.
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    Patients can register
    in under five minutes
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    and have access to
    over 500 different medications,
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    a stable list of medications
    for everything from heart disease
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    to mental health conditions,
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    actually representing over 75 percent
    of all prescriptions prescribed
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    in the United States today.
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    We also partner with a network
    of doctors, nurses and case managers
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    at community health centers
    and free clinics
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    that refer patients to the service.
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    We make it as easy
    for these health care providers
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    to have a prescription filled
    with donated medications
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    as it is to send a prescription
    to a local pharmacy.
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    And patients can pick up medications
    on site at one of our partners
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    or have medications delivered
    directly to their home.
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    By circumventing
    the traditional supply chain,
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    we're able to offer flat,
    transparent pricing
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    about two dollars
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    for a month's supply of most medications.
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    And that allows a predictable,
    affordable price
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    that folks can actually budget for.
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    We've already supplied enough medication
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    for 150,000 people,
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    but we can do more.
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    Our goal is to reach one million people
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    with approaching a billion dollars
    of unused medicine
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    in the next five years,
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    scaling our program to 12 states.
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    At this scale, we can actually cover
    communities that are home
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    to 40 percent of the 10 million people
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    who lack consistent, affordable access.
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    Our direct service to one million people
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    will drive price competition
    for so many more.
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    Wal-Mart launched
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    one of the only price innovations
    in pharmacy in 2006
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    by offering a limited list of medications
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    for a flat fee of four dollars.
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    This sparked incredible change.
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    It sparked competitors
    to offer other lists
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    and price match guarantees.
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    By targeting transparent,
    affordable medications
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    into these new states,
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    we can actually drive
    regional price competition
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    that drives down the prices
    for entire low-income communities.
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    Our health care system is complex.
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    It is daunting.
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    It feels impossible to make headway.
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    But we can completely
    reimagine medicine access.
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    By using surplus medications
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    as a beachhead
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    to force change into this
    multi-billion dollar industry,
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    we can create radical access
    to medications
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    based on a fundamental belief
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    that people who live in one of
    the wealthiest nations in the world
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    can and should have access
    to medicine that they need
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    to survive and to thrive.
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    I do not pretend to have
    all of the answers
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    to fix all of the problems
    in our health care system,
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    but getting medications
    to the millions of people
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    who need it to live a healthy life,
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    saving medicine to save lives,
    that is something we can do today.
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    Thank you.
Title:
You shouldn't have to choose between filling your prescriptions and paying bills
Speaker:
Kiah Williams
Description:

more » « less
Video Language:
English
Team:
closed TED
Project:
TEDTalks
Duration:
08:07

English subtitles

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