ISU employees will have to pay more for prescription drugs starting in February because of a rise in insurance co-pay rates.

Diane Muncrief, manager of human resources, said the rising cost of prescription drugs is the main reason why co-pay rates are increasing for university employees.

“The idea is it’s costing more to research and certify drugs. It’s also costing more to produce them, so the consumer has to absorb the cost,” she said.

This year alone, prescription drug costs are estimated to rise 20 percent, she said.

Muncrief said under the new plan, employees will pay a maximum of $1,500 per year for prescriptions. After that, the plan covers all the remaining cost.

The ever-increasing price for prescriptions also caused the rate to change from dollars to percentages. Currently, employees pay $7 for generic drugs, $15 for preferred brand drugs and $30 for non-preferred brand drugs.

With the increase, they will pay $10 for generic drugs, 30 percent of the cost of the preferred brand drugs and 50 percent of the cost of the non-preferred brand drugs, instead of the previous set dollar amounts.

Muncrief said the university is hoping that by putting in the percentages, officials won’t have to change the co-pay rates in the future, because the percentages would be able to adjust to inflation and increased drug rates.

Muncrief said a co-pay allows the consumer to pay only a standard amount for the drug needed. The insurance would then incur the rest of the cost of the drug.

“For instance, under the new plan, if a person has a $100 prescription for a non-preferred drug, they will have to pay $50. The remaining $50 will be paid by their insurance,” she said.

If the university did not increase the co-pays, then the premium of the employee’s insurance package would have to increase, Muncrief said. She also said that she estimates savings from the increased co-pays would be about half a million dollars.

Jennifer Tabke, youth field specialist for ISU Extension in Plymouth County, said she is not surprised by the increase.

“It’s not just ISU that’s going up; everybody is raising their rates,” she said.

Mattie Rogers, account clerk for continuing education and communication services, said she was disappointed in the increase, but understood it needed to be done.

“I will now have to pay an extra $55 per month out of my pocket, but I’m thankful to have medical insurance,” she said.

Rogers said she did not know if she would be able to cover the full $1,500 for her diabetes medicine.

“I used to only have to pay around $300,” she said.

Muncrief said hopefully the increased co-pay will encourage consumers to purchase generic drugs if they are available.

“The problem is, people see the advertisement for the little purple pill and that’s what they ask their physician to prescribe for them, and a generic in most cases would work just as well,” she said.

Muncrief said she encourages consumers to ask their physicians about alternatives to brand drugs.

Rogers said she didn’t feel well informed about the increased rates.

“To the best of my knowledge, I haven’t seen anything that brought this to my attention,” she said.

Muncrief said she expects there to be some confusion among other employees.

“We always have that,” she said. “We have tried to do some extra communication, but next week I expect to get a few calls.”