New Pharmacy Benefit Plan Design Aims at Preventative Treatment
It is not a common practice to use the Eyes on Benefits forum to highlight a particular insurance carrier. In this instance, we do feel that the Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC’s (BCBSNC) Medication Dedication program is a significant addition to a market trend: the focus on support of patient adherence to medication programs. This marks another step in BCBSNC’s philosophical progression concerning pharmacy benefits, which we feel is somewhat evolutionary in health plan design.
With little to no fanfare, Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC will begin rolling out this new program to provide free generic medications used to treat the following common chronic illnesses:
• Congestive heart failure
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• High cholesterol
Additionally, BCBSNC will lower the copayments on over 40 brand-name medications to treat the same chronic conditions into the second lowest copayment tier.
BCBSNC’s Medication Dedication program is designed to improve a patient’s adherence to his or her doctor’s prescribed drug regimen and to promote wellness for the purpose of taking a proactive approach to their health. The idea behind the program is that increasing medication adherence provides significant health benefits and could help to lower overall health costs by treating these conditions before they become more serious and more costly to treat.
Unlike the Ashville Project (or other community pharmacy guided programs), this new program relies on the employee adhering to the program due simply to the low cost nature of the program. To add physician support to the program, BCBSNC is working on communication channels and will be comparing diagnosis and prescription information to feed non compliance information back to the physician to further support adherence.
BCBSNC recognizes this will medication dedication program will cost more money in the short term, but the long term benefits and cost savings cannot be ignored.
To learn more about the program, click here. To see how the Asheville Project has spurred employers to adopt similar healthcare models, click here.
Questions or comments about this article? Email us at comments@hcwbenefits.com.
* * * * *
Don't forget to participate in the 2007-2008 NC Healthcare Benefits & Cost Survey at www.capital.org/healthsurvey. All survey participants will receive FREE, electronic summarized results that will provide you with current market trend information to benchmark your medical plan designs and contribution strategies against other businesses in North Carolina and within their specific industry.
Don’t allow your organization to be left in the dark! Participate today!
Please Note: If you no longer wish to receive communications of this nature from Hill, Chesson & Woody, please reply to the sender of the email with the word "unsubscribe" in the header. Thank you.
Important Notice: Hill, Chesson & Woody does not engage in the practice of law, accounting, or medicine. Therefore, the contents of this communication should not be regarded as a substitute for legal, tax, or medical advice.
December 21, 2007
Hill, Chesson & Woody strives to keep our clients' group decision makers abreast of trends influencing the employee benefits market. Look for Eyes on Benefits to bring you news and information affecting you and your employees.
194 Finley Golf Course Road, Suite 200,
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
Phone: 919.403.1986
Fax: 919.913.0237
www.hcwbenefits.com