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LONG BEACH, CALIF. — Modest reductions in medication copayments can encourage patients with diabetes to fill their prescriptions and use their drugs, according to an experiment at the University of Michigan.
As part of the Michigan Healthy Communities Initiative, the university tested the “value-based benefit design” concept, in which cost-sharing is based not just on the acquisition cost of medication, but also on the likelihood of benefit, Dr. William Herman explained at a diabetes meeting sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The greater the benefit to the patient, the lower the copayment.
The concept provides a financial incentive to targeted patients “to use therapies from which they are most likely to benefit,” said Dr. Herman of the university, in Ann Arbor.
The university identified 1,777 of its employees and dependents with diabetes and offered them copayment reductions on antihyperglycemics, antihypertensives, antihyperlipidemics, and antidepressants.
The price of tier-1 generic medications was reduced 100%, from $7 to zero; tier-2 preferred-brand medications, 50%, from $14 to $7; and tier-3 nonpreferred brand medications, 25%, from $24 to $18.
For controls, investigators identified 3,273 patients with diabetes and similar demographics from the same health plan but with employers other than the university. They were not offered this reduction in copayments.
Over 2 years, patients in the intervention group filled significantly more prescriptions in all medication groups. For example, there was a 3% absolute increase in filled metformin prescriptions and a 5% absolute increase in filled statin prescriptions.
Using the medication possession ratio (MPR) metric, defined as the amount of medication filled divided by the amount needed to fill to take as prescribed, the researchers saw a statistically significant 7% absolute increase in MPR for ACE inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers.
In all, the health system granted copayment relief for 86,655 claims, at a cost of $869,767 over 2 years. Almost three quarters (74%) of the copayment relief went for tier-1 medications; 21% went to tier 2 and 5% went to tier 3.
Neither Dr. Herman nor Dr. Keeler reported any conflicts of interest related to their presentations.
LONG BEACH, CALIF. — Modest reductions in medication copayments can encourage patients with diabetes to fill their prescriptions and use their drugs, according to an experiment at the University of Michigan.
As part of the Michigan Healthy Communities Initiative, the university tested the “value-based benefit design” concept, in which cost-sharing is based not just on the acquisition cost of medication, but also on the likelihood of benefit, Dr. William Herman explained at a diabetes meeting sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The greater the benefit to the patient, the lower the copayment.
The concept provides a financial incentive to targeted patients “to use therapies from which they are most likely to benefit,” said Dr. Herman of the university, in Ann Arbor.
The university identified 1,777 of its employees and dependents with diabetes and offered them copayment reductions on antihyperglycemics, antihypertensives, antihyperlipidemics, and antidepressants.
The price of tier-1 generic medications was reduced 100%, from $7 to zero; tier-2 preferred-brand medications, 50%, from $14 to $7; and tier-3 nonpreferred brand medications, 25%, from $24 to $18.
For controls, investigators identified 3,273 patients with diabetes and similar demographics from the same health plan but with employers other than the university. They were not offered this reduction in copayments.
Over 2 years, patients in the intervention group filled significantly more prescriptions in all medication groups. For example, there was a 3% absolute increase in filled metformin prescriptions and a 5% absolute increase in filled statin prescriptions.
Using the medication possession ratio (MPR) metric, defined as the amount of medication filled divided by the amount needed to fill to take as prescribed, the researchers saw a statistically significant 7% absolute increase in MPR for ACE inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers.
In all, the health system granted copayment relief for 86,655 claims, at a cost of $869,767 over 2 years. Almost three quarters (74%) of the copayment relief went for tier-1 medications; 21% went to tier 2 and 5% went to tier 3.
Neither Dr. Herman nor Dr. Keeler reported any conflicts of interest related to their presentations.
LONG BEACH, CALIF. — Modest reductions in medication copayments can encourage patients with diabetes to fill their prescriptions and use their drugs, according to an experiment at the University of Michigan.
As part of the Michigan Healthy Communities Initiative, the university tested the “value-based benefit design” concept, in which cost-sharing is based not just on the acquisition cost of medication, but also on the likelihood of benefit, Dr. William Herman explained at a diabetes meeting sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The greater the benefit to the patient, the lower the copayment.
The concept provides a financial incentive to targeted patients “to use therapies from which they are most likely to benefit,” said Dr. Herman of the university, in Ann Arbor.
The university identified 1,777 of its employees and dependents with diabetes and offered them copayment reductions on antihyperglycemics, antihypertensives, antihyperlipidemics, and antidepressants.
The price of tier-1 generic medications was reduced 100%, from $7 to zero; tier-2 preferred-brand medications, 50%, from $14 to $7; and tier-3 nonpreferred brand medications, 25%, from $24 to $18.
For controls, investigators identified 3,273 patients with diabetes and similar demographics from the same health plan but with employers other than the university. They were not offered this reduction in copayments.
Over 2 years, patients in the intervention group filled significantly more prescriptions in all medication groups. For example, there was a 3% absolute increase in filled metformin prescriptions and a 5% absolute increase in filled statin prescriptions.
Using the medication possession ratio (MPR) metric, defined as the amount of medication filled divided by the amount needed to fill to take as prescribed, the researchers saw a statistically significant 7% absolute increase in MPR for ACE inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers.
In all, the health system granted copayment relief for 86,655 claims, at a cost of $869,767 over 2 years. Almost three quarters (74%) of the copayment relief went for tier-1 medications; 21% went to tier 2 and 5% went to tier 3.
Neither Dr. Herman nor Dr. Keeler reported any conflicts of interest related to their presentations.