- Center on Health Equity and Access
- Clinical
- Health Care Cost
- Health Care Delivery
- Insurance
- Policy
- Technology
- Value-Based Care
Infographic: Do Formulary Drug Exclusions Save Money as Promised?
Researchers from Tufts Medical Center analyzed findings from 26 studies to determine how drug exclusion policies affect patients and healthcare costs.
At the beginning of August, Express Scripts and CVS Health announced formulary exclusions aimed at battling rising prescription drug prices. Notably, diabetes drugs took a hit with Express Scripts choosing not to cover Victoza and CVS Health announcing is would pull Lantus, along with its successor Toujeo, in favor of the biosimilar Basaglar.
Researchers from Tufts Medical Center analyzed findings from 26 studies to determine how drug exclusion policies affect patients and healthcare costs. They found that in most cases, exclusion policies work.
However, while most studies suggested that drug exclusions save money, in some cases savings from less expensive alternatives were offset by other healthcare spending, such as increased office visits or hospitalizations.
Standard Criteria for Loss of Ambulation Needed in DMD
April 19th 2024A recent study suggests the differences between ambulation definitions for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) can impact the identification of ambulant vs nonambulant individuals, and standard criteria across settings are needed.
Read More
Navigating Health Literacy, Social Determinants, and Discrimination in National Health Plans
February 13th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the February 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on how health plans can screen for health literacy, social determinants of health, and perceived health care discrimination.
Listen
Early Involvement Critical in Treating Immunotherapy-Induced Overlap Syndrome
April 19th 2024A series of case studies reveals the importance of early diagnosis and involvement of special teams of clinicians when dealing with potential cases of overlap syndrome, which encompasses myocarditis, myasthenia gravis, and immune checkpoint inhibitor–related myositis.
Read More
Drs Raymond Thertulien, Joseph Mikhael on Racial Disparities in Multiple Myeloma Care Access
December 28th 2023In the wake of the 2023 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition, Raymond Thertulien, MD, PhD, of Novant Health, and Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, FRCPC, FACP, chief medical officer of the International Myeloma Foundation, discussed health equity research highlights from the meeting and drivers of racial disparities in multiple myeloma outcomes.
Listen
Government agencies have created an online portal for the public to report potential anticompetitive practices in health care; there are changes coming to the “boxed warning” section for chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies (CAR T) to highlight T-cell blood cancer risk; questions about the safety of obesity medications during pregnancy have arisen in women on them who previously struggled with fertility issues.
Read More
