Drug Topics - March 3, 2008 - (Page 8)

8 DRUG TOPICS MARCH 3, 2008 www.drugtopics.com NEWS Roundup PBM already manages the drug benefit for more than 1.3 million members from Independence Blue Cross companies, schools, corporations, and labor unions in Southeastern Pennsylvania and encompasses a drug spend of more than $1 billion. FutureScripts just promoted Paul Urick, R.Ph., from VP of pharmacy services to senior VP for the company. Covering more than 100 employees, including pharmacists and others, the company is now hiring for additional positions. paid have already been set aside in prior fiscal periods, so the settlement will not affect its 2008 results. Support for universal health care rising among pharmacists The California Pharmacists Association has joined the growing chorus of groups calling for universal healthcare coverage at its recent meeting in Sacramento, Calif. The new policy adopted by its House of Delegates called for “healthcare coverage for all, whether multi-payor or single-payor.” CPhA CEO Lynn Rolston Lynn Rolston says California told Drug Topics that the organizapharmacists tion supported universal health- support universal care legislation that was proposed health care by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last year, but that the plan was not approved. In December, the American College of Physicians, the second largest physician organization, also called for a single-payor healthcare system. The American Medical Association has opposed such healthcare reform. Four more companies to gain URAC accreditation URAC, an accrediting agency, said four more companies are on track to receive accreditation for their pharmacy benefit management and/or drug therapy management programs. The four companies are: Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy, MaxorPlus, MemberHealth, and UnitedHealth Pharmaceutical Solutions. The Washington, D.C., based organization said having the URAC accreditation seal means that the companies have demonstrated ongoing accountability and a dedicated focus on quality. ENHANCE study to affect utilization, not coverage, of cholesterol drugs Coverage of Vytorin and Zetia (ezetimibe, Merck/ Schering-Plough) is not expected to change but utilization will drop, following the ENHANCE study. That’s the conclusion of a new survey of pharmacy and medical executives at managed care companies, conducted by market research firm Cognet-X Inc. The ENHANCE study found that Vytorin, a combination of simvastatin and Zetia, is not statistically better than simvastatin alone at reducing arterial plaque buildup. Two thirds of respondents said their coverage of the drugs will probably remain as is until full ENHANCE results are released. N.Y. governor proposes discount Rx card, bulk drug purchasing New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has proposed creating a prescription drug discount card for the uninsured and exploring bulk purchasing of prescription drugs by the state. The recommendations were made at a state budget hearing on Wednesday. Officials at AARP urged legislators to adopt the proposals, but Craig Burridge, executive director of Pharmacists Society of the State of New York, urged caution. According to Burridge, the legislation is still too vague at this point and the group has reached out to the governor and AARP to discuss the proposals. “Perhaps a pass-through of rebates at point-of-service to pharmacies for a discount card might be palatable to our members,” he told Drug Topics. “We won’t know that until we see what they are proposing. The current language tells us very little.” Government and Law CVS to pay $40 million to settle Caremark investigation When CVS acquired Caremark, it also inherited the problem of a multistate investigation of the pharmacy benefit manager for encouraging doctors to switch to brand-name cholesterol-lowering drugs so that it could pocket rebates. Without admitting any guilt, CVS has now agreed to settle the case. The chain must pay $38.5 million to the 29 states and up to $2.5 million to patients who incurred expenses related to the drug switches. In addition, the company must abide by PBM practices related to drug switching that protect health plans and patients. CVS said the amounts to be Members of 340B program to get windfall from Merck settlement Hospitals in the 340B drug discount program will be collecting more than $8 million in refunds as a result of a $650 million settlement that Merck has agreed to pay state and federal authorities. The settlement follows qui tam suits brought by two whistleblowers who charged that the drug firm underpaid rebates to Medicaid and illegally remunerated health providers to induce them to prescribe the company’s products. DT http://www.drugtopics.com

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Drug Topics - March 3, 2008

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