Today’s guest post comes from Chris Dowd, Senior VP of Market Development at ConnectiveRx. Chris explains how the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) will impact hub, patient assistance programs (PAP), and affordability programs. He discusses steps manufacturers can take to accommodate the anticipated budget reductions while maintaining access and affordability for patients. To learn more, join Chris on May 21 at 1:00 p.m. ET for a free online panel discussion about how brands can continue to offer robust patient support despite IRA challenges. Read on for Chris’ insights. Read more ..read more

April is over, so it's time to hop into this month’s selection of noteworthy news: CVS Health’s formulary boosts a Humira biosimilar An insurer ditches buy-and-bill to save money for plans—but maybe not for patients? My $0.02 on how Medicare Part D plans will react to the Inflation Reduction Act Walgreens' unexpected specialty pharmacy strength A video deconstruction of my infamous Drug Channels article on GoodRx Plus, a cartoonist illustrates my recent keynote on the battle for oncology margin. P.S. Join my nearly 55,000 LinkedIn followers for daily links to neat stuff. Read more ..read more

Today’s guest post comes from Kevin Kettler, President of CoverMyMeds. Kevin asks: What if there were no barriers across the therapy access and reimbursement process? In his view, eliminating barriers requires a combination of expert insight, actionable data, and simplification of the providers' experiences. Click here to learn more about CoverMyMeds’ comprehensive technology solutions. Meet CoverMyMeds in Booth 1305 at the Asembia AXS24 Summit. To keep up with CoverMyMeds and all the action at Asembia, click here to sign up for daily recaps from Asembia. Read on for Kevin’s insights. Re ..read more

Next week, the Drug Channels Institute team will be attending Asembia’s AXS24 Summit at the wonderful Wynn Las Vegas. And for the first time—thanks to our new friends at HMP Global—DCI will have its very own booth! (Click here for a special sneak peek.) As you might expect, we will hit Vegas in true Drug Channels style. Stop by booth #1801 for fun and games: Partake in a special in-person Ask Me Anything with Adam (#AMAWA) session with DCI president Adam J. Fein, Ph.D.! The AMAWA session will start on Monday, April 29, at 4:30 p.m. (Bring your phone if you want a selfie!) Adam won’t be ..read more

Drug Channels Institute’s (DCI’s) latest analysis finds that participants in the specialty pharmacy market continue to get more diverse—although revenues remain highly concentrated. We have identified nearly 1,800 dispensing sites with specialty pharmacy accreditation—about 40% of which are owned by hospitals, physician practices, and other healthcare providers. Alas, specialty pharmacies owned by the three largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have the most brass in their pocket, as they accounted for two-thirds of prescription revenues from pharmacy-dispensed specialty drugs. Read on ..read more

Today’s guest post comes from Jessica Lens, Chief Patient Experience Officer at CareMetx. Jessica discusses the challenges of patient nonadherence. She then outlines how manufacturers can build adherence into their patient services program to increase patient engagement. To learn more about enhancing patient engagement and adherence, download CareMetx's new report: Driving Brand Success: Minimize Risk and Capture Missed Value from Patient Engagement and Adherence. Read on for Jessica’s insights. Read more » © 2006-2024 HMP Omnimedia, LLC d/b/a Drug Channels Institute, an HMP Global ..read more

Three is still the magic number for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). For 2023, nearly 80% of all equivalent prescription claims were processed by three companies: the Caremark business of CVS Health, the Express Scripts business of Cigna, and the Optum Rx business of UnitedHealth Group. Read on for Drug Channels Institute’s (DCI’s) latest market share figures, along with a preview of the industry changes that will shift these shares over the next few years. Read more » © 2006-2024 HMP Omnimedia, LLC d/b/a Drug Channels Institute, an HMP Global Company. All rights reserved. This Feed is f ..read more

I am pleased to announce the inaugural Drug Channels Leadership Forum! This unique, new event will be held from March 17 to 19, 2025, at the Turnberry Resort and Spa in Miami. The Leadership Forum will be an executive gathering where drug channel leaders can network and discuss key issues and challenges facing the commercial healthcare system. We intend to bring together people from the entire drug channel: pharmaceutical manufacturers, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), health plans, insurers, and plan sponsors, wholesalers and distributors, pharmacies, providers, buying groups, government ..read more

This week, I’m rerunning some popular posts while I prepare for today’s live video webinar: Drug Channel Implications of the Inflation Reduction Act. One important update: In the article below, I suggested that the IRA will make high-list/high-rebate products less attractive to Medicare plans. But this appears not be accurate, as I explain in Surprise! Thanks to the IRA, Part D Plans Will Prefer High-List, High-Rebate Drugs. Click here to see the original post from January 2024. It's time for Drug Channels’ annual reality check on U.S. drug pricing. For 2023, brand-name drugs’ list prices ..read more

This week, I’m rerunning some popular posts while I prepare for Friday’s live video webinar: Drug Channel Implications of the Inflation Reduction Act. For more on acquisition cost reimbursement for pharmacies, see Sections 8.4. and 12.3.4. of our new 2024 Economic Report on U.S. Pharmacies and Pharmacy Benefit Managers. Click here to see the original post from December 2023. Is the world ready for new ways to price pharmacy and pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) services? CVS Health thinks so, as evidenced by two new initiatives that it announced yesterday. Below you'll find details and links t ..read more