Health Insurance Daily

Higher Copays Don't Deter Use Of Needed High-Cost Medication

While higher copayments often limit the frequency with which patients use many traditional medications, cost-sharing has relatively little impact on the use of expensive new "specialty pharmacy" drugs.

That finding, being published today in the policy journal Health Affairs, is important because health plans are struggling to pay for the drugs, which can cost as much as $10,000 per month.
Copayments have been effective in controlling other pharmacy costs, it said, but not specialty pharmacy drugs that include injectable and biological agents that target a gene or protein, and in many cases treat complex chronic conditions such as anemia, cancer and multiple sclerosis.

To view this article in its entirety click on Specialty Drugs.

posted by Mike @ 3:01 PM