Radar on Drug Benefits
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Most Payers Will Review Humira Biosimilars as They Come
Starting next year, biosimilars are expected to generate significant pharmacy cost savings for patients and payers, led by multiple biosimilars of AbbVie Inc.’s blockbuster immunosuppressive drug Humira (adalimumab). With as many as eight Humira competitors expected to launch in 2023, most payers report they will evaluate the biosimilars as they come to market over the course of the year, rather than waiting until all are available before making coverage decisions. And half of payers may adjust Humira contracting in 2022, prior to the biosimilars’ launches.
That’s according to findings from Zitter Insights, which like AIS Health is a division of MMIT. Steve Callahan, a senior manager of market research at MMIT, described Zitter’s market research findings on the Humira biosimilars during an April 5 webinar.
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Demand for Medication Abortion May Rise if Roe Falls
The use of medication abortion — which involves two drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol — has grown significantly since its approval and now accounts for 54% of all pregnancy terminations before nine weeks of gestation in the U.S. If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, medication abortion usage is likely to increase as patients in states that ban the procedure are likely to attempt to obtain courses of medication abortion from states that allow it. Only 18 states and the District of Columbia allow both advanced practice clinicians and medical doctors to dispense abortion pills. Six states have passed laws banning any use of telehealth for medication abortion, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation analysis. Insurance coverage for both surgical and medical abortion is heavily regulated across the nation. A 2019 study from the Government Accountability Office found that 14 states’ Medicaid programs do not cover mifepristone even in the cases of rape, incest and life endangerment.
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News Briefs: UnitedHealthcare to Restrict Aduhelm Access
UnitedHealthcare will restrict access to Aduhelm (aducanumab) across all of its books of business, arguing that “Aduhelm is unproven and not medically necessary for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease due to insufficient evidence of efficacy,” according to company documents obtained by Stat News. The decision from the insurance branch of UnitedHealth Group, the largest private carrier in the country, follows a controversial move by CMS to restrict access to the drug mainly to patients who are participating in clinical trials. In a National Coverage Determination, CMS said the Medicare program will cover Biogen Inc.’s Aduhelm only for patients enrolled in randomized, controlled clinical trials conducted either through the FDA or the National Institutes of Health. For Medicare patients to be prescribed Aduhelm, they also must have a clinical diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease or mild dementia with a confirmed presence of plaque on the brain.
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PBM Critics Increasingly Take Their Grievances to Court
As scrutiny on PBMs continues, various stakeholders are turning to the legal system to challenge the business practices of major firms.
Centene Corp. has been the target of the most litigation, having now reached settlements with nine state attorneys general over allegations that its PBM subsidiary Envolve overcharged those states’ Medicaid programs for prescription drugs, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company has set aside $1.25 billion to fund those settlements and potential future lawsuits, and it is in the process of restructuring its PBM holdings.
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Specialty Pharma Payer Deals Point to Outsourcing Trend
As prices for specialty pharmacy products continue to soar, payers are looking for new ways to gain more control over the distribution of expensive, often-provider-administered drugs. Last week, Kaiser Permanente and Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield both struck deals aimed at managing specialty pharmacy spend — and one expert says that more deals like them are coming, especially from Kaiser’s new business partner, Cigna Corp. subsidiary Evernorth.
Kaiser Permanante (KP), the multistate integrated payer-provider based in California, doesn’t enter agreements with service providers outside its self-contained system very often. That said, Kaiser Permanente spokesperson Stephen Shivinsky tells AIS Health that “Kaiser Permanente and Accredo” — the specialty pharmacy division of Evernorth — “have had an existing relationship, which will expand further under part of this new agreement.”
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