From the state of the economy to the implementation of drug reform legislation and prolific genericization of branded products, there has been much speculation about the impact that biologic drugs will have on private plans. Less than five years ago, most of this discussion took place in the future tense. Long development times in the […]
There have been significant changes in the landscape of public sector drug plans over the past five years. Faced with rapidly escalating costs, provinces have begun leveraging their purchasing power and law-making ability to impose a measure of restraint on their drug systems. The Ontario government in particular has demonstrated that these measures can result […]
The prices of many of the world’s most popular prescription medications are set to decrease over the next year and beyond, as patent expiries open the door to generic equivalents. According to the Associated Press (AP), seven of the top 20 best-selling drugs are set to lose patent protection over the next 14 months, including […]
Over the last few years, an increasing number of new medications have been introduced to treat a range of complex diseases. While many of these treatments have proven effective, they also come at high costs—costs that private supplementary health insurance plans are struggling to cover. A recent example is the newly marketed drug Soliris, which […]
I followed my father’s footsteps into the pharmacy industry. When he first started practising pharmacy it was common place to smoke behind the dispensary counter, prescription labels were carefully crafted using a typewriter, the arsenal of medications was a fraction of the size that it is today, and most importantly, pharmacists weren’t allowed to tell […]
Generic drugs just got less expensive for the 200,000 Nova Scotians enrolled in the Pharmacare program, however employers shouldn’t expect to see any reductions in their drug costs. The provinces Fair Drug Pricing Act (a stand-alone act to oversee the public drug plans, which accounted for about $300 million in spending last year) went into […]
Against a backdrop of spiralling drug costs coupled with an aging population, appropriate evaluation and coverage of drugs has taken on special urgency. Many stakeholders believe a new approach to drug evaluation is needed to manage the marked increase in drug spend, while still ensuring Canadians have access to beneficial medications. To facilitate the exchange […]
A U.S. study released by Buck Consultants indicates that the use of third-party pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) has increased by 10% in the past two years (47% in 2009 to 57% in 2011). With 67% of respondents citing pharmaceutical pricing as “‘highly important ” more and more employers are using PBMs to process and pay […]
A great deal of the potential that has been touted about the impact of lower generic drug prices on the private sector has yet to be realized. This is further evidence that plan sponsor reliance on passive drug plan management is not likely to bear fruit with respect to long-term cost containment. Cubic Health recently […]
Ever-increasing prescription drug prices have generated much discussion about how best to control these escalating costs. However, the results of a recent Aon Hewitt Rapid Response survey suggest that, while there’s been a lot of talk, there has been little action. Even though certain solutions have been available for some time, there are many organizations […]