QandAs: Health

How do they categorize Generic Drugs?

Answer:
The Food and Drug Administration classifies drugs into many different categories based on the drug’s purpose.

For example, drugs that relieve pain are categorized as “analgesics” and drugs that relieve muscle spasms are categorized as “muscle relaxants.” Both brand-name medications and generics fall under these various categories.

Generic drugs meet the same quality standards by the FDA as their brand-name counterparts and contain the same active ingredients.

Another category of drugs, both prescription and generic, that you may run into is called a formulary. This is a list of drugs that your insurance company will cover. If a drug isn’t in their formulary, then you will have to pay a larger portion of the drug’s cost.

While there may be dozens of medications in a certain classification, an insurance company’s formulary will pick and choose a few drugs that they will cover. The drugs may be chosen based on price or deals made with the manufacturer. If you are prescribed a drug that’s not on the formulary, you might have to pay full price for it. Many insurance companies have several tiers with varying co-pays for each classification.