PBMs Driving Down Costs of Prescription Drugs, Report Says |
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Written by U.S. Insurance News
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Wednesday, 21 November 2007 |
The numbers don’t lie—and that’s good for America’s seniors.
The numbers don’t lie—and that’s good for America’s seniors.
A recent report from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) proves that pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) tools are lowering prescription drug costs for America’s seniors, according to the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA).
The OIG report shows that in Medicare Part D, generic drugs were dispensed 88 percent of the time when generic substitutes were available, and 56 percent of all drugs dispensed are generics. Thirty-seven percent of prescriptions were written for drugs that have no generic substitutes.
This report, said Mark Merritt, president and CEO of PCMA, confirms what previous reports have shown.
“As numerous other studies have found, Part D plans and the PBMs who administer them are driving increased generic utilization,” Merritt said. “This most recent report from OIG . . . confirms that proven PBM tools are driving down costs and increasing access on prescription drugs for America’s seniors.”
Research from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) shows that PBM tools have resulted in overall costs for the Part D program coming in 30 percent less than originally estimated. PBMs will also save the Medicare program and its beneficiaries $693 billion from 2008 through 2017, compared with what expenditures would have been without active PBM management, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
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