Employers

The Employer Playbook on Biosimilars highlights strategies employers can use to navigate challenges around ensuring employee access to biosimilars at the pharmacy, as well as how to respond to pharmacy benefit managers who aren’t making biosimilars available on the formulary, said Margaret Rehayem, vice president, National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions.

Equity has to be made front and center in conversations about value assessment, otherwise all stakeholders will continue waiting for someone else to make the first move, said one panelist at the Value-Based Insurance Design Summit.

Insured lower-wage employees had lower prevalence of mental health conditions but greater severity, with more hospital admissions and emergency department visits than high-wage employees.

For employers, keeping members engaged with their health care is one of the key factors that leads to better outcomes, said Jeremy Wigginton, MD, vice president of health quality and innovation at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana.

A new resource from the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions aims to help plan sponsors adopt biosimilars into their pharmacy benefit plans.

Virtual care not only means saved time and costs for employees, but improvements to employers' bottom lines, through more proactive management of health concerns, notes UCM Digital Health CEO and co-founder Keith Algozzine.

The first of at least 8 adalimumab biosimilars has finally launched in the United States after being kept off the market for years due to settlement agreements with the maker of the reference product, Humira.

The quest to deliver better cancer care—with better outcomes and patient experience—is not a one-size-fits-all journey, as seen in panels during the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) Payer Exchange Summit, held in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia.

Inactive occupational status and low educational level were associated with pain, late disease onset, and greater number of affected areas in patients with hidradenitis suppurativa.

It can be hard to think about the bigger picture while in the middle of a crisis, but providers and employers should use this opportunity to work together on new and alternative models of care delivery and financing that directly affect cost, outcomes, and experience.

A majority of patients with moderate or severe atopic dermatitis (AD) reported moderate-to-high negative impacts on quality of life.

Imposing a surcharge on unvaccinated employees will require employers to think through legal and policy implications.

Marking Mental Health Awareness month, stakeholders involved in the delivery of behavioral health care services discuss current efforts underway—spearheaded by the novel 988 emergency hotline—to address the growing mental health crisis.

Lower-salary employees in high-deductible health plans underutilize outpatient care and overutilize emergency departments.

Representatives from employers, pharmacy benefit managers, and others discussed methods of improving pharmacy access and affordability in health plans.

Key opinion leaders addressed cost, accessibility, and other barriers limiting use of comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP), and how employers can help drive preventive care and precision medicine through CGP.

Findings of a survey of large employers indicate that utilization management tools are ineffective in controlling health care costs for employees and may lead to barriers to treatment.

Survey results demonstrate an opportunity to incorporate good practices for high-deductible health plans that can help enrollees maximize value and better navigate their benefits and treatment options.

A webinar by the National Cancer Treatment Alliance discussed current use and diagnostic/therapeutic benefits of comprehensive genomic profiling in oncology, as well as recommendations for employers and benefit consultants considering biomarker testing.

Speaking during a webinar presented by the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, experts weighed the pros and cons of employer high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) and outlined steps to address challenges raised.

Part 1 of a 2-part webinar series by the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions addressed issues in health care coverage affordability and how equitable health benefits and value-based design can reduce cost while improving employee engagement.

Key opinion leaders discuss the state of mental health in the US workforce, persistent unmet needs, and efforts to improve coverage and uptake of behavioral health services.

Theresa Juday, RPh, director, Specialty Product Development, CVS Health, discusses the indirect and direct cost burden associated with chronic insomnia.