Communities: Pharmacy Benefit Management
Employment Impact of Proposed Mandatory Part D Drug Rebates
The President and some members of Congress have proposed requiring that prescription drug manufacturers pay rebates to the federal government for drugs dispensed to Medicaid/Medicare dual-eligible beneficiaries and other low-income seniors through the Medicare Part D program. (The required rebates would be in addition to the manufacturer-paid rebates already in the Part D program due to the market-based negotiations between manufacturers and Part D plans).
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) estimates that the President’s proposal will reduce federal outlays by $135 billion over 10 years. However, the reduced revenue is likely to substantially affect the pharmaceutical industry, and OMB did not provide any estimates of the effect on jobs – somewhat ironic in that the President’s proposal came in the context of his “jobs bill.”
In this short paper, we take a step toward filling that analysis gap. In particular, using the historic relationship between revenues and employment, we find that by 2021 the proposal could reduce pharmaceutical and related employment by up to 238,000 jobs.
More Pharmacy Benefit Management Articles
Catamaran to Manage Cigna’s Pharmacy Benefits
Catamaran Corp., which acts as a middleman between employers, drug makers and pharmacies by negotiating prices and managing medicine use by workers, won a 10-year contract to manage prescription drug benefits for Cigna Corp.'s clients.
Book Review: Cracking Health Costs by Tom Emerick with Al Lewis
It’s been 70 years since Kaiser opened its first free medical clinic for employees. Since then, employers have spent over $20 trillion on providing health benefits. Yet despite all those years and all that money, no one has ever thought to write a book advising employers how to spend that
8 Ways Pharmacy Benefit Design May Evolve in 2013
Pharmacy benefit plan design continues to shift, becoming more advanced and putting more choice in the hands of the member.
Pharmacy Networks Offer Huge Savings For Employers
A recent study produced by Vistane for the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) has found that through greater use of preferred and limited pharmacy networks payers, including Medicare, Medicaid, and employers, could save a combined $115 billion of the next decade.
Requests for permissions to reuse content contact Copyright Clearance Center at info@copyright.com
