Making Medicine Affordable with Susan Lang of Visory Health

The cost of pharmaceuticals is so… well, murky. And we’re exploring exactly why that is — and why it doesn’t have to be that way. Because prescription drug affordability is truly a crisis in our country — in 2023, more than one third of Americans said they’ve not filled a necessary prescription due to cost. Sixty percent of adults in our country take at least one prescription medication, and 80% of them say that the cost of their prescription drugs is “unreasonable.” And this is of particular concern for women — according to a study from researchers at The Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, women are more likely than men to report cost-related barriers to filling their prescription medicines. But a new company, Visory Health, and their CEO Susan Lang, are on a mission to change all that. 

Over the last few years, several prescription drug providers have sought to help mitigate these high prices — Perhaps you’ve heard of entrepreneur Mark Cuban making waves with his “Mark Cuban Cost Plus” discount pharmacy where consumers can save up to 80% on commonly prescribed generic drugs. The company made headlines recently when Blue Shield of California announced that it was turning away from pharmacy giant CVS — which is consistently rated as one of the country’s most expensive pharmacies — and teaming up with Cuban’s Cost Plus and Amazon Pharmacy. The goal is simple: Helping people save millions of dollars on their healthcare. 

That’s the goal shared by Susan Lang, CEO and Founder of Visory Health, a prescription savings company that helps consumers — particularly women — get better prices on their medications. Since Visory launched just over a year ago, it has already become the fourth largest prescription discount card, and has helped 3 million patients save nearly $4 billion — yes, billion — on their prescriptions. 

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Lang says prescription drug prices are so expensive because many people have to get paid along the supply chain — so a pill that costs 30 cents to make will end up being 15 dollars by the time it gets to you. Visory Health cuts out the Pharmacy Benefits Manager (PBM) so you don’t need to go through your insurance (and pay everyone in between) in order to get your prescription — the deal that’s going down is just between you and the pharmacy. 

This is especially important for populations that were disproportionately hit by COVID in the last few years. “We’re focused on people that are taking care of us,” Susan explains. “The people that take care of our communities, moms, daughters, and certainly men, firefighters, first responders, veterans. We want them to know that somebody’s got their back and we’re looking out for their best interest.”

Hear more about Susan’s incredible career in healthcare, why she decided not to take funding when she started Visory Health, and the reason she thinks the prescription drug industry will change rapidly in the coming years on the How She Does It podcast. 

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