Posted by Michael Wonder on 09 Sep 2016
A push to lower drug prices that hit insurers and employers the hardest
9 September 2016 - Americans have expressed outrage at pharmaceutical companies for raising prices on medicines like EpiPen and Daraprim.
Insurers and employers — who pay the bulk of the cost for drugs — say that a bigger financial shock has come from a largely overlooked source: expensive anti-inflammatory medications like Humira and Enbrel that are used by millions of people in the US for rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases/conditions. In recent years, the prices of the medications have doubled, making them the costliest drug class in the country by some calculations.
Now, one of the most powerful forces on the side of payers is pushing back. Express Scripts, the nation’s largest drug benefits manager, changed its recommendations to insurers and employers, saying they should cover fewer drugs for many inflammatory conditions. The idea is that the new limits will force drug companies to lower their prices, saving insurers and employers money.
