But health care in 1999 doesn't look anything like health care in 1980. And nowhere does health care look more different now than in the use of prescription drugs. There are more new drugs on the market than ever before. More drug company advertising directly to consumers, and as a result, exploding consumer demand. It's Prilosec time.
Prescription drugs are the fastest growing piece, or sector, of our health costs.
Hopefully, and we believe, that some of that is being driven by drugs that are going to add future value to keep employees healthy and reduce heart attack, strokes, and so forth in the future. But that value is coming at a steep price. Take the number one most expensive drug used by Eastman employees, heavily advertised Prilosec. That's when some of what's in your stomach flows back up into your esophagus through a faulty valve. The condition is also called heartburn.