Special Issue: Pharmacy Benefits

July 10, 2018

Most non–inborn errors of metabolism (non-IEM) medical foods (MFs) do not meet the regulatory MF definition and lack scientific evidence for safety and efficacy. Non-IEM MFs are not yet ready for reimbursement by public insurers.

July 11, 2018

Only slightly more than half of patients with newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis initiated therapy within 1 year.

July 11, 2018

This decision tree model estimates the cost per response and incremental cost per additional responder for romiplostim, eltrombopag, and “watch and rescue” for immune thrombocytopenia.

July 11, 2018

Findings from a literature review indicate that overall costs of long-acting insulin analogues are not significantly different from those of intermediate-acting human insulin and oral antidiabetic agents.

July 11, 2018

A 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) drug switch program switching from 5-ASA to sulfasalazine was instituted for insured patients with ulcerative colitis. Unanticipated barriers limited the number of patients who switched, but significant cost savings were still obtained.

July 12, 2018

Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are associated with increased prescription costs. Actual practice data show a high switch rate and poor adherence among DOAC initiators that need to be addressed.

July 12, 2018

Adherence to newly initiated biologic therapy for rheumatoid arthritis is important for long-term adherence.

July 12, 2018

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis who switched biologics incurred higher costs than patients who persisted on biologics. Etanercept appeared to be associated with the lowest costs.

July 13, 2018

By covering vaccinations under both the medical and pharmacy benefit, rather than the medical benefit alone, health insurers can help improve adult vaccination rates.

July 13, 2018

Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who received long-acting combination therapy had significantly lower adherence and persistence compared with those who received long-acting monotherapy.

July 13, 2018

Constraining access to HIV regimens can have significant implications for patients. This study examined the economic and health impacts of restrictive HIV formulary designs.