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Prescription Drug Benefits

Report

Report

Modeling the Economic Impact of a California Workers' Compensation Formulary

This report estimates the potential impacts of a California Workers' Compensation formulary in terms of changes in prescription drug use and spending and discusses the potential broader impacts of these changes on the California economy.

Jul 17, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Impact of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) on Opioid Utilization Among Medicare Beneficiaries in 10 U.S. States

Implementation of a prescription drug monitoring program in 10 states was associated with a reduction in overall volume of opioid drugs prescribed.

Jun 14, 2017
Commentary

Effects of Removing Maternity Care and Mental Health Treatment from Coverage Requirements

The American Health Care Act passed by the U.S. House of Representatives to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act allows states to waive benefits that the ACA deemed “essential.” Dropping maternity care coverage, for example, would reduce premiums by 5 percent but increase out-of-pocket spending for new mothers.

May 18, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Lessons Learned from an Integrated MTM Program

A community health center in western Massachusetts offers a model of integrated care, in which pharmacists play key roles in decision making and charting.

May 11, 2017
Commentary

Easing the Pain When Critical Medications Are No Longer Covered

Allowing insurance companies to limit the drugs they cover is necessary to give them leverage that can result in lower medication costs for all patients. Still, there are ways to make the process more transparent and manageable.

Oct 28, 2016
Report

Implementing a Drug Formulary for California's Workers' Compensation Program

This report supports the California Division of Workers' Compensation's efforts to establish a drug formulary by comparing existing workers' compensation formularies and analyzing options for designing and implementing the formulary.

Aug 25, 2016
Journal Article

Prescription Drug Use Rises, Out-of-Pocket Spending Drops Among Those Newly Insured Under the ACA

A study of nearly 7 million prescription drug users' experiences provides strong evidence that the Affordable Care Act has increased treatment rates while reducing out-of-pocket spending, particularly for those with certain chronic health conditions.

Aug 19, 2016
News Release

News Release

Prescription Drug Use Rises, Out-of-Pocket Spending Drops Among Individuals Newly Insured Under Affordable Care Act

A study of nearly 7 million prescription drug users' experiences provides strong evidence that the Affordable Care Act has increased treatment rates while reducing out-of-pocket spending, particularly for those with certain chronic health conditions.

Aug 17, 2016
Journal Article

Journal Article

Adverse Selection in Retiree Prescription Drug Plans

Claims data from a large U.S. employer that introduced changes in its medical and drug coverage offerings in 2002 for non-Medicare eligible retirees.

Jun 28, 2016
Journal Article

Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Enrollees Report Less Positive Experiences Than Their Medicare Advantage Counterparts

Medicare enrollees with standalone prescription coverage reported less positive experiences with their plans than their counterparts in Medicare Advantage plans.

Mar 14, 2016
Commentary

Bringing Sky-High Prescription Drug Prices Down to Earth

Increased competition among drug companies and improved bargaining power of insurers and consumers could help keep high prescription prices in check.

Dec 10, 2015
Project

Evaluating the Length of Prescription Plans

RAND Europe is conducting a study for NIHR to provide a high-quality reference on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of 3 month vs 28 days prescriptions in patients with stable chronic diseases.

Aug 31, 2015
Journal Article

Early Marketplace Enrollees Were Older and Used More Medication

Prescription data on more than one million Marketplace patients shows that those who enrolled earlier were older and used more medication than later enrollees. However, Marketplace enrollees as a whole had lower average drug spending than the employer-sponsored comparison group.

May 29, 2015
Journal Article

Journal Article

Comparing Employer-Sponsored and Federal Exchange Plans: Wide Variations in Cost Sharing for Prescription Drugs

Our primary objective was to examine the variability in drug coverage in the exchanges across plan types (health maintenance organization or preferred provider organization) and metal tiers (bronze, silver, gold, and platinum).

Mar 9, 2015
News Release

News Release

Federal Drug Discount Program Faces Challenges as It Expands Under Health Reform

A federal program that provides billions in drug discounts to safety net hospitals and other health care providers is expanding under health care reform, but divergent views on the purpose and future scope of the program create uncertainty for safety net providers and drug manufacturers.

Aug 12, 2014
Report

Federal Drug Discount Program Faces Challenges as It Expands Under Health Reform

A federal program that provides billions in drug discounts to safety net hospitals and other health care providers is expanding under health care reform, but divergent views on the purpose and future scope of the program create uncertainty for safety net providers and drug manufacturers.

Jul 21, 2014
Journal Article

Journal Article

Do Strict Formularies Replicate Failure for Patients with Schizophrenia?

We measure the impact of Medicaid formulary restrictions (FRs) on the rate at which patients who previously failed a drug therapy for schizophrenia are returned to that therapy.

Mar 1, 2014
Report

Small Ideas for Saving Big Health Care Dollars

A series of proposals that would substitute lower-cost treatments for higher cost interventions and that promote greater patient safety could save the U.S. health care system $13 to $22 billion per year.

Jan 30, 2014
Blog

Small Ideas for Saving Big Health Care Dollars (No. 4-7)

Focusing on smaller, more focused approaches can identify less controversial opportunities for modest health care savings.

Jan 15, 2014
Commentary

An Inexpensive Prescription for Medicare

If Congress wants to save Medicare, it can start by driving waste and excess out of the system. This can be done without impoverishing patients or driving doctors out of business, if physicians are willing to practice smarter, more efficient medicine. Spending on prescription drugs is a case in point.

Nov 18, 2013

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