New Group of Generic Drugs Offers Health Plan Savings
Posted by J.P. Farley Corporation on Thu, Feb 09, 2012
Time is running out for many of America’s most popular prescription drugs. With patent protections ending, generic versions of these drugs will soon be available to patients. The use of generic equivalents in place of brand name drugs offers self-funded health plans and consumer-directed healthcare programs an important opportunity to significantly reduce medical expenses.
To optimize potential savings, managers of consumer-directed healthcare plans should start working with their third-party administrators now to educate employees and promote the benefits of using generic drugs. Consumers with Flexible Savings Accounts and Health Savings Accounts, in particular, should appreciate the opportunity to decrease their drug expenditures.
The following seven drugs are already available in generic form or are scheduled to go generic later in 2012:
Lipitor to reduce cholesterol –available now- Solodyn to fight bacterial infection –available now
- Zyprexa to treat schizophrenia –available now
- Lexapro to relieve depression – available in March
- Provigil to treat sleep problems – available in April
- Plavix to prevent blood clots – available in May
- Singulair to treat asthma – available in August
Generic drugs typically offer healthcare consumers a cost savings of 70% to 80%. Failure to promote and direct participants to higher generic utilization on your fully-insured or self-funded healthcare plan can be expensive, as Medicaid discovered in 2009 when it failed to authorize the use of generic drugs and subsequently lost $329 million in unnecessary drug expenses.
Often health plans offer savings opportunities for plan participants that utilize generic medications, 90-day medication supplies, mail order options and, for certain types of medications, specialty pharmacy arrangements. Participants should periodically refer to their health plan document for information on their specific prescription coverage and should discuss their medications with their doctor.