Preventive Drug Lists Can Boost Workers’ Health, Study Suggests

A study published this month in JAMA Health Forum indicates people with diabetes can see short-term health benefits from enrolling in plans offering preventive drug lists (PDLs) that sharply reduce or eliminate cost-sharing for certain medications. However, the study’s lead author and a pharmacy benefits consultant tell AIS Health, a division of MMIT, that more work needs to be done to evaluate whether such programs are cost-effective for employer-sponsored plans.

Still, they were encouraged with the results, which found that people who switched to plans with PDLs had an 8.4% reduction in acute, preventable diabetes complication days compared with the non-PDL group. In addition, there was a 10.4% reduction in preventable diabetes complication days among members from lower-income areas who switched to PDLs.

© 2024 MMIT
Tim Casey

Tim Casey

Tim has been a reporter and editor for newspapers, websites and magazines for more than 20 years, including 10 years covering health care business topics. He has a deep knowledge of the managed care industry and pharmacy benefit management. He also has experience covering medical conferences and clinical and legislative health care issues. In 2014, the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing selected Tim as one of 15 journalists to participate in a national symposium on the Affordable Care Act. Tim has a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Notre Dame and an M.B.A. from Georgetown University.

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