Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Insurance Generic drugs can save health care costs Health care cost continue to rise at an alarming rate. This was made very evident to all of us recently when it was necessary to increase insurance premi ums. We cannot, however, continue to place the entire blame for these increases on doctors and hospitals. It must be remembered that we, you and I, are the consumers of the services of health care system. As consumers we have a responsibility to use the health care system wisely. There are ways that each of us can save ourselves and our insurance plan money. Some have been mentioned before and we continue to give you suggestions as we can. This article addresses the use of generic drugs. Ask For and Use Generic Drugs A "generic" drug is a drug which can be substituted for a better known name brand drug. The active ingredients in the drug are the same but the cost can be less than one-half of the name brand product. A recent article in Business Insurance Magazine stated that "more than 43 percent of prescriptions written for drugs ... are now filled generically." When such a high percentage of prescribed drugs have generic substitutes, why is that many employees do not ask for and use them? There could be several reasons: (1) Your doctor may think that a generic drug is not as good as a name brand drug; (2) Your pharmacist may not want to fill the prescription with a generic drug because he/she doesn't trust the substitute; (3) Your doctor may not think about filling your prescription with a cheaper generic drug. These issues were all addressed by Business Insurance. Are generic drugs safe? The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reported that the 8,000 generic drugs approved as therapeutically equivalent since 1970, "there has never been a documented caseof inequivalency to the brand-name counterpart." The FDA appointed a special task force to verify the safety of genericdrugs and they found "a physician, in managing a patient, can feel secure that authorizing substitution of that product for any other therapeu tically equivalent drug will provide the same intended effect." Are generic drugs tested? "The FDA is universally recognized as providing the United States with the finest and most thorough pharmaceutical regulatory protection in the world. The brand-name drug industry would have patients and physicians believe that, although they can rely on the FDA to certify completely new drugs for first-time use in humans, it cannot be relied upon to assess the therapeutic equivalence of Focus On Benefits Pay while away from work Clinton Mills provides a reasonable amount of time off with pay when there is a death in the employee's immediate family. In the event of a covered death, employees may be eligible for up to three days pay. Immediate family includeshusband, wife, father, mother, grandmother, grandfather, son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, brother, sister, mother-in-law, or father- in-law. In order to be eligible for death-in family pay, the employee must attend the funeral unless he is incapacitated due to medical reasons connected with the death. Pay will only include those days that occur when the employee is scheduled to work. Hours paid for death-in-family are excluded from overtime calculations and any applicable shift premium. Anyone desiring additional information relative to the death-in family policy should contact their Personnel Director. JURY WITH PAY Clinton Mills encourages its employ ees to be concerned citizens. The Com pany believes serving on jury is a privi lege and duty of every American citi zen. To partially relieve each employee from any financial loss while serving on jury and to assist in fulfilling this most vital civic responsibility, the Company will pay the difference between what pay they would have been had he worked at the plant, but not in excess of eight hours straight time for eight (8) hours per day for serving on any jury other than in City o r Magistrate Court. Clinton Mills of Geneva employee receive jury pay in accordance with applicable laws in the stateof Alabama. generic versions of drugs that have been marketed and used for years. "The FDA subjects both brand name and generic drugs to the exact same standards of purity,uniformity, pharmacopoeial quality, stability and Credit Association proper labeling. Quality control procedures are the same for bo th brand- name and generic manufacturers. Purchasing generic drugs saves you money, helps hold down insurance costs Car loans available The 1989 models are dazzling the crowds in automobile showrooms everywhere. If you're in the market for a new car, no doubt you've already checked out the dealers and have a pretty good idea of what you want. And you may have been tempted to "act now" by those too-good-to-be-true, but soon-to- expire offers of factory financing at rates your Uncle Harry wouldn't give you. Well, the reason Uncle Harry wouldn't give you a deal like that is because, presumably, he likes you. Typically, the only way you'll get one of these ultra-low interest rate loans from the dealer is to agree to repay it in just two years. And this will mean monthly car payments that may require you to cut out food and housing. When you stop choking, the dealer will suggest a longer term loan with lower monthly payments, and, yes, it is at a "slightly" higher rate of interest. Why subject yourself to this annoying and misleading sales game? A better tactic is to decide what model you want, then stop by the credit association to arrange your automobile financing in advance, at our competitive market rates. Armed with approved financing, you can return to the showroom and truly make the best deal — by simply telling the salesman you want every rebate, -cash discount, sales incentive and goofy gimmick that will actually lower the purchase price. Uncle Harry would approve. Consolidate your bills Consolidate those bills. Big bunches of bills cluttering up your life? This spring, let the Credit Association help you tidy things up — by consolidating your monthly installment payments. A single monthly payment to the Credit Association can replace those endless payments to department stores, appliance dealers, and furniture outlets, etc. Make your bill-paying less aggravating, less time-consuming and less expensive, too. The Credit Association interest rates are well below those charged by retail merchants and other suppliers. So save money by simplying your life. Apply for payment consolidation loan from the Credit Association before next month's bills start stacking up again. Editor: Mack Parsons Published by: Laurens County Newspapers. Inc. Clinton. S.C. 29325 Bulk Rate U.S. Postage PAID Clinton, S.C. Permit No. 59 8 ClothMaker