Latest Medicare Part D Stories
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The 60 Plus Association (60 Plus) today sent a letter asking Congressional leaders to weigh in with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against the proposed merger between Express Scripts, Inc. (ESI) and Medco Health Solutions, two pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) that administer prescription benefits for many health plans, including some Medicare Part D plans. 60 Plus is a non-partisan seniors advocacy group, with over 7.1 million...
PBMs Will Save Missouri Consumers and Payers $40 Billion Over the Next Decade WASHINGTON, Feb. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) has launched a new ad campaign in Missouri that highlights the core value proposition of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). The ad campaign - "That's What PBMs Do" - focuses on key themes including: PBMs lower costs for employers, unions, and consumers. PBM mail-service pharmacies improve safety,...
The cost of medications through Medicare's subsidized prescription drug program varies from region to region across the United States largely due to the use of more expensive brand-name drugs and not because of the amount of drugs prescribed, according to a study led by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH). The authors said that more efficient prescribing practices could have saved the Medicare program and its beneficiaries $4.5 billion. The...
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New 2012 Medicare Part D data released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) show the growing popularity among Medicare Part D beneficiaries in choosing plans featuring lower cost preferred pharmacy network options. Enrollment in plans with preferred pharmacy networks has grown twice as fast as conventional plans and is offered by many of the largest Part D plan sponsors. Now almost a third of all...
PBMs Will Save Pennsylvania Consumers and Payers $89 Billion Over the Next Decade WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) has launched a new ad campaign in Pennsylvania that highlights the core value proposition of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). The ad campaign - "That's What PBMs Do" - focuses on key themes including: PBMs lower costs for employers, unions, and consumers. PBM mail-service pharmacies improve...
Costs remain a challenge for many The financial burden Americans face paying out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs has declined, although prescription costs remain a significant challenge for people with lower incomes and those with public insurance, according to a new RAND Corporation study. Despite the improvement, more than 8 million nonelderly Americans lived in families with high drug-cost burden in 2008 and one in four devoted more than half of their total out-of-pocket...
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The 60 Plus Association (60 Plus) today sent a letter asking the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to block the proposed merger between Express Scripts, Inc. (ESI) and Medco Health Solutions, two pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) that administer prescription benefits for many health plans, including some Medicare Part D plans. 60 Plus is a non-partisan seniors advocacy group, with over 7.1 million supporters. In the letter, 60 Plus...
CHICAGO, Feb. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- An alarming number of our country's middle-income retirees on Medicare lack understanding or have misconceptions about the program's coverage and costs resulting in unexpected financial surprises, according to the latest findings released by the Bankers Life and Casualty Company Center for a Secure Retirement(SM) (CSR). The study, Retirement Healthcare for Middle-Income Americans, which focused on 400 pre-Medicare Boomers (age 47 to 64) and 400...
Focuses on Increased Safety, Savings, and Convenience PBMs Provide Consumers and Payers WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) launched a new ad campaign in Oregon that highlights the core value proposition of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). The ad campaign - "That's What PBMs Do" - focuses on key themes including: PBMs lower costs for employers, unions, and consumers PBM mail-service pharmacies improve...
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Medicare officials should swiftly authorize a Special Enrollment Period to allow patients to enroll in a new Medicare Part D prescription drug plan if the patient believes that material misrepresentations led them to sign up for a "preferred network" plan with inadequate pharmacy access, the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) said today. Since the start of the 2012 plan year on January 1, local...
