News Briefs
✦ A poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the deepening economic crisis has made some patients struggle to afford their prescription medication, among other essentials. According to the poll, 8% of Ameri...
PBMs Post Strong 1Q, but Questions Loom About Rest of 2020
Major PBMs reported strong results for the first quarter of 2020 as members rushed to fill prescriptions in March ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, financial analysts warn the pandemic could have unpredictabl...
Potential COVID-19 Treatments’ List Prices vs. Minimum Manufacturing Costs
On May 1, the FDA authorized Gilead Sciences, Inc.’s experimental antiviral drug remdesivir for emergency use in seriously ill COVID-19 patients. A 10-day course of remdesivir could cost around $4,500 if the drug ...
With Costco Now in its Corner, PBM Navitus Thinks Big
Serving just 6.2 million members, Navitus Health Solutions — a PBM owned by St. Louis, Mo.-based integrated health system SSM Health — is hardly one of the industry’s major players. But given that it features ...
Experts: COVID May Cause Permanent Rx Delivery Changes
Industry experts expect the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic crisis, in addition to the trend of vertical integration in the PBM sector, will increase those companies’ direct interaction with consumers. The ...
Express Scripts Rolls Out Drug Discount Program for Newly Uninsured With Chart: Participating Brand-Name Drugs in Express Scripts’ Parachute Rx
Promising “extraordinary prescription savings for extraordinary times,” Express Scripts on May 7 unveiled a new program that offers medication discounts for Americans who lose their health coverage amid the econ...
News Briefs
✦ In its final Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for the 2021 benefit year, CMS crystallized a controversial policy of allowing commercial health insurers to prevent drug manufacturer coupons from counting ...
For PBMs, Opportunity Arises Amid Mental Health Rx Surge With Chart: Use of Mental Health Medication Jumps Amid COVID-19 Outbreak
Newly released data from Express Scripts shows that the number of prescriptions filled per week for antidepressants, anti-anxiety and anti-insomnia medications combined jumped 21% between mid-February and mid-March ...
Pandemic Is Likely to Alter Autoimmune Disorder Care Delivery
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, patients with autoimmune disorders who depend on caregiver-administered drugs face serious challenges to their safety, according to a recent analysis published by Avalere Health...
Study Spotlights Rising Use, Spending on Asthma Biologics
A recently released study from Prime Therapeutics LLC highlights an eyebrow-raising trend: Over the last two and a half years, the number of the PBM’s commercially insured members with asthma who used biologic med...