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Generic Drugs Continue to Skyrocket in Price while Specialty Drugs Take Center Stage

On the minds of every employer today is the cost of specialty drugs, however as industry focus shifts, generic drugs are seeing a dramatic rise in costs. Turing pharmaceuticals and the Daraprim fiasco brought to light a much larger problem. Martin Shkreli leveraged the ongoing trend of purchasing off-patent drugs...

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Capping Illusions: Why limits on out-of-pocket drug spend don’t work.

While a proposed cap on out-of-pocket drug spend seems to be the common response to the current drug pricing conundrum, in reality there are significant  drawbacks. On the surface, capping out of pocket drug costs seems like a great idea.  Patients would no longer have to worry about paying exorbitant...

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Co-Insurance for Medications: A New Trend for Consumers

As we brace for healthcare changes in the coming years, one particular trend that will negatively impact consumer out-of-pocket costs is the use of co-insurance (instead of a co-pay) for expensive specialty medications. Many consumers are accustomed to paying flat insurance co-pay amounts for various tiers of medications, with...

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Understanding your Insurance Policy’s Formulary

Just because your medications are covered today doesn’t mean that they will be covered next month. Roughly 10% of those purchasing medications will find that their insurance company no longer covers the drug they take. Formularies change very often so let’s discuss drug formularies, how they work and what...

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The High Price of Specialty Drugs: The Self-Insured burden and a cause for concern for HR managers

A new CVS Caremark report projects that specialty drug spend is expected to quadruple in 2020, reaching approximately $418 billion a year. Currently, specialty drug spend accounts for 30% of the total drug spend and by 2018, it will account for half of a companies drug spend. This article...

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Can Pill Splitting help save you money on your medications?

Having a chronic condition that requires medications on a monthly basis, or even multiple medications, can be a major burden.  Not just financially but also emotionally and physically. Splitting appropriate medications can be a way to save a lot of money monthly.  The American Medical Association and the American...

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