Coventry recently announced the release of the fourth part of its 2017 Drug Trends Series, which is based on all calendar year transactions billed through its PBM Program, First Script, as well as transactions from medical bill review to reflect the total pharmacy experience for their client base.
This fourth installment of the series is dedicated to topicals, specialty medications, and regulatory development. Although topicals and specialty drugs represent only 6% of total aggregate prescriptions, they account for 17.9% of total aggregate cost, thus warranting increased attention.
Although topicals and specialty drugs represent only 6% of total aggregate prescriptions, they account for 17.9% of total aggregate cost, thus warranting increased attention. Topicals represent 4.8% of total prescriptions and 12.8% of total drug cost and are being prescribed as an alternative to some oral medications; however, the lack of clinical efficacy and exorbitant pricing eliminates them as a favorable first-line therapy option. While they are declining in the managed environment due to utilization controls they continue to increase in the unmanaged space.
Specialty medications, which are typically used to treat patients with complex, chronic conditions, have become widely discussed in workers’ comp due to their significant costs. Although they represent approximately 1% of drug utilization, they account for nearly 5% of prescription drug costs. Key trends from this fourth part included:
Managed Topical Medications
– Cost per claim has decreased modestly over the last 2 years, 0.3% (2016) and 1.9% (2017).
– Utilization has fallen by at least 6% per year over the last 2 years.
– Cost per script has increased for the last 3 years, from a high of 20.9% (2015) to a low of 4.9% (2017).
Unmanaged Topical Medications
– Cost per claim has increased over the last 2 years, 9.1% (2016) and 29.4% (2017).
– Increasing utilization has occurred for the last 2 years (1.5% in 2016 and 9.8% in 2017).
– Cost per script has increased at least 7% each year spiking at 17.9% in 2017.
Managed Specialty Medications
– 7-8% increases in cost per claim per year.
– Specialty usage, although less than 1% of all scripts, has increased by at least 9% per year.
– Cost per script has experienced a 3-year downward trend (1.7% in 2017), influenced by declining use of hepatitis C medications
Unmanaged Specialty Medications
– Significant fluctuations in cost per claim trending up 22.1% in 2016 and down 22.5% in 2017.
– Specialty usage accounted for less than 2.5% of all scripts and has decreased between 2-6% per year.
– Cost per script, influenced by varying usage of medications used to treat anemia, rose 24.6% in 2016 and fell 17.8% in 2017.