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Generic Drug Savings Possibilities: $3.6 Billion to Medicare Using DTC Pricing
How much would have Medicare saved if it had the same ability to purchase generic drugs at the same price as individuals using direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmacies like the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company? Billions, as it turns out.
In January of this year, entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban launched a direct-to-consumer pharmacy called the Cost Plus Drug Company, promising savings by eliminating middlemen and charging cost plus 15% and a pharmacy fee. What if Medicare could do the same? On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with a researcher who coauthored a study out this week that looked at the savings to Medicare Part D if the same model had been employed for some of the most used generic drugs.
Hussain S. Lalani, MD, MPH, an internist and one of the coauthors, discussed the findings of the paper, published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The analysis compared the price paid by Medicare Part D plans in 2020 with the price of 89 generic drugs sold by the pharmacy in 2022.
The researchers, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, used the price paid by Medicare Part D plans in 2020 and looked at the price of 89 generic drugs sold by the pharmacy in 2022.
After adjusting for changes in drug costs between 2020 and 2022, the researchers found that Medicare paid more on 77 of the 89 generic drugs: $8.1 billion compared with $4.5 billion. Medicare would have saved as much as $3.6 billion over 1 year.
Listen to an excerpt of the interview above or through one of these podcast services:
Examining Low-Value Cancer Care Trends Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 25th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the April 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on the rates of low-value cancer care services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
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What We’re Reading: FDA Approves UTI Antibiotic; Ozempic, Wegovy Price Investigation; US Births Fall
April 25th 2024The FDA recently approved an antibiotic for the treatment of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women; a Senate committee recently launched an investigation into the prices of Novo Nordisk’s diabetes and weight loss drugs; US births fell last year, resuming a national slide after a previous increase during the pandemic.
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Empowering Community Health Through Wellness and Faith
April 23rd 2024To help celebrate and recognize National Minority Health Month, we are bringing you a special month-long podcast series with our Strategic Alliance Partner, UPMC Health Plan. In the third episode, Camille Clarke-Smith, EdD, MS, CHES, CPT, discusses approaching community health holistically through spiritual and community engagement.
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The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC's) vote to ban most employers from issuing and enforcing noncompete clauses could have varying impacts on the health care workforce; federal regulators vastly under-enforced antitrust laws in the hospital sector during the last 2 decades, resulting in increased health costs; the FDA recently found genetic evidence of the H5N1 bird flu virus in pasteurized commercially purchased milk.
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Polatuzumab Vedotin and R-CHP Appropriate for Untreated DLBCL
April 24th 2024Population pharmacokinetic and exposure-response analyses revealed a favorable benefit-risk profilane for the treatment combination of polatuzumab vedotin and rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (R-CHP).
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