For its first annual drug trend report as a part of Cigna Corp., Express Scripts Holding Co. said it had achieved a record low drug trend of 0.4% across its clients' employer-sponsored commercial plans in 2018. Overall, the PBM reported savings of $45 billion for its clients last year, AIS Health reported.

The PBM cited "an unprecedented 0.3% decline" in per-beneficiary drug spending across Medicare plans. Overall, there was a 1.4% decrease in unit cost trend, which allowed clients to absorb a 1.1% increase in utilization, the PBM said. Oncology replaced diabetes as Medicare’s top therapy class by per member per year spend.

 

Topics: Payer, Provider, Market Access, Data & Analytics, Industry Trends

According to our recent payer coverage analysis for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatments, combined with news from key healthcare influencers, market access is shifting in this drug landscape.

To help make sense of this new research, MMIT's team of experts analyzes the data and summarizes the key findings for you. The following are brief highlights. To read the full piece, including payer coverage, drug competition and prescriber trends, click here.

Topics: Market Access, Branding & Marketing, Specialty, Payer

With the FDA approving multiple novel new therapies over the past couple of years, we should expect to see more of the same moving forward. But that innovation is not cheap, and the pharmaceutical industry likely will continue to offer products at higher price points than ever before, AIS Health reported.

As payers struggle to rein in high specialty drug prices, many have turned to copay accumulator programs, and this trend shows no signs of slowing. "There was an increased focus on copay accumulator programs in 2018," comments Amy Nash, Pharm.D., president of RelianceRx, the specialty pharmacy affiliate of Independent Health. She tells AIS Health she expects to see "further refinement of copay accumulator programs from payers and additional strategies from pharma to prevent them."

 

Topics: Specialty, Product Release, Payer, Provider, Industry Trends

While a new federal proposal to overhaul the prescription drug rebate system may not be a significant threat to major managed care companies' bottom lines, it will likely be disruptive for insurers and PBMs alike, AIS Health reported.

The proposed rule would remove safe-harbor protections under the federal anti-kickback statute for rebates paid by drug manufacturers to PBMs, Part D plans and Medicaid managed care organizations. Instead, it would create two new safe harbors: one for prescription drug discounts offered directly to patients, and one for fixed-fee service arrangements between drug manufacturers and PBMs.

 

Topics: Payer, Provider, Market Access, Industry Trends

According to our recent payer coverage analysis for type 2 diabetes treatments, combined with news from key healthcare influencers, market access is shifting in this drug landscape.

To help make sense of this new research, MMIT's team of experts analyzes the data and summarizes the key findings for you. The following are brief highlights. To read the full piece, including payer coverage, drug competition and prescriber trends, click here.

Topics: Market Access, Branding & Marketing, Specialty, Payer

As states take a hard look at how they can reduce prescription drug spending in their Medicaid programs, they've put an already heavily scrutinized type of organization in their crosshairs: PBMs, AIS Health reported.

Ohio, for example, is forcing PBMs to abandon their current "spread pricing" models — in which PBMs pocket the difference between the amount they reimburse a pharmacy for a drug and the (usually higher) amount they charge a plan sponsor. Instead, they’ll move to a "pass-through" model, where PBMs will be paid an administrative fee by the Medicaid program and have to pay pharmacists the same amount that they bill the state for drugs, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

Topics: Industry Trends, Payer, Provider

Anthem, Inc. caused its stock to surge and Wall Street analysts to raise their 2019 and 2020 earnings estimates by revealing during its quarterly earnings call on Jan. 30 that it's planning to launch its in-house PBM three quarters earlier than it originally projected, AIS Health reported.

In its earnings release for the fourth quarter of 2018, the insurer said it will terminate its contract with Express Scripts Holding Co. on March 1, 2019, rather than the original expiration date of Dec. 31, 2019, because of Cigna Corp.'s acquisition of the PBM. Thus, Anthem expects to begin transitioning members to the new PBM platform, IngenioRx, in the second quarter of 2019.

 

Topics: Payer, Provider, Market Access

According to our recent payer coverage analysis for neutropenia treatments, combined with news from key healthcare influencers, market access is shifting in this drug landscape.

To help make sense of this new research, MMIT's team of experts analyzes the data and summarizes the key findings for you. The following are brief highlights. To read the full piece, including payer coverage, drug competition and prescriber trends, click here.

Topics: Market Access, Branding & Marketing, Specialty, Payer

A small study suggests it might be possible to shorten the length of expensive drug treatment for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV), potentially cutting treatment time in half for 50% of patients. But managed care pharmacy clinicians say the results are far from ready to implement widely, and it’s possible the new approach might not even save money, AIS Health reported.

The study, conducted at Loyola University Chicago and three medical centers in Israel, involved only 22 patients. It used a technique called modeling-based response-guided therapy, which estimated how long it would take to completely eliminate the hepatitis C virus.

 

Topics: Payer, Data & Analytics

Under the direction of its new governor, Democrat Gavin Newsom, California is planning to take control of the pharmacy benefit for all of the state's Medi-Cal beneficiaries — the vast majority of which currently have that part of their care administered by private insurers and their PBMs, AIS Health reported. What's more, the order directs state agencies to create bulk-purchasing arrangements for high-priority drugs and establish a framework for letting private businesses and insurers join the state’s buying pool.

The idea of the state's Medicaid program shifting to an entirely fee-for-service drug benefits system is already sparking worries about what it will do to PBMs' bottom lines.

 

Topics: Payer, Provider, Market Access, Industry Trends