Analysis

Coupon and Co-Pay Off-set Strategies

September 29-30, 2014 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

WWW.CBINET.COM/COUPONS

CBI’s Coupon and Co-Pay Off-set Strategies Conference explores how to leverage ROI-Generating Discount Programs to increase patient acquisition and retention. This year's conference focuses on the effectiveness, advances, and latest information about co-pay assistance programs. It also addresses the continuing controversy surrounding these programs.

All stakeholders will be represented in the speaking faculty, which will include physicians, payers, pharmacies, manufacturers and government. Speakers come from such organizations as Allergan, Astellas, Bristol-Myers Squibb, CSL Behring, Eisai, Emdeon, IMS Health, King and Spalding, Larkin Hospital, Lash Group, McKesson, Office of Inspector General, Primus Pharmaceuticals, PSKW LLC, SampleMD, TrialCard, UnitedHealth, and Walgreens.

Join the dialogue on September 29-30 in Philadelphia and discover cutting-edge strategies to maximize your product throughout its lifecycle by leveraging discount opportunities. You can’t afford to miss it!

Drug Channels subscribers can save $400 off the standard registration rate when they use code TYP392.* Register today!

*Cannot be combined with other offers or used towards a current registration. Other restrictions may apply.

Walgreens and Alliance Boots today announced the accelerated formation of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., a new US-based holding company. The transaction will close in the first quarter of 2015. Read the press release.

The company is (1) abandoning plans to do an inversion, (2) lowering its financial targets, (3) embarking on a $1 billion cost-cutting effort, and (4) reshuffling and combining the management teams. Stefano Pessina, who will be the combined company’s biggest shareholder, will have big strategic role. He’s reporting to Greg Wasson…for now.

Below are a few initial reactions, along with some selected slides from today’s conference call. Keep in mind that the second stage still requires shareholder approval. This is not a done deal.

CVS Caremark and Express Scripts have just released their 2015 formulary exclusion lists.

As expected, the two PBMs’ lists keep getting longer, although there are relatively few overlaps. The lists offer some surprises, including Express Scripts’ decision to drop Amgen’s anemia products and both companies’ handling of the testosterone category.

Read on for our exclusive Guardians of the Galaxy commentary and links to the complete exclusion lists.

IIR’s all-new Specialty Pharmacy Collaboration Summit gives you the opportunity to partner directly with all the key stakeholders in the specialty pharmacy value chain. You will learn from the experts how to increase patient adherence, expand distribution, and improve your bottom line.


As a partner for the event, Drug Channels' readers receive a 15% discount off the standard rates! Register Now to SAVE 15% off standard rates with code XP1968DRUG.

Today’s guest post is from Josh Halpern, Co-Founder and Executive Vice President of IntegriChain. Josh updates us on the IntegriChain Innovation Summit, which will be held in Pittsburgh, PA, on September 8 to 10, 2014.

Click here to register. Registration is free for pharmaceutical manufacturers.

I’ll be delivering the keynote address. See you there!

Given all of the news lately, the hazy days of summer have not been very lazy. Put your feet up and relax with this month’s selection of noteworthy news stories. In this issue:

• First Round of PBM 2015 Formulary Exclusions Announced

• How To Win in Specialty Pharmacy

• Narrow Networks Are Here to Stay

Plus, the great Weird Al Yankovic returns to take on corporate jargon. On behalf of consultants everywhere, I apologize.

Since I published March’s Inversion Uncertainty: Is Alliance Boots Really Acquiring Walgreens?, Walgreens has become embroiled in a giant PR nightmare over its plans. Major politicians are attacking the company. Editorials are calling the company “unpatriotic.” A potent anti-Walgreens consumer movement is starting to spread online. Examples below.

The attacks are very misinformed. If Walgreens moves its headquarters to Switzerland, it will continue paying U.S. taxes on its U.S. operations. Walgreens will only avoid U.S. taxes on its substantial, soon-to-be-acquired non-U.S operations. That's one reason why inversion is still the most likely outcome. See if you agree with my scenario below.

Walgreens' management neglected to get in front of this story, so politicians and anti-Walgreens activists are leading the narrative. Has the company again misjudged a controversy (a la the 2012 Express Scripts debacle) and handed an easy victory to its pharmacy competitors?

IIR’s Medicaid Drug Rebate Program (MDRP) 2014 is back in Chicago September 15-17, 2014, just in time to provide you with essential regulatory updates surrounding the impact of the ACA, Medicare Part D, AMP Final Rule, and the 340B Program's Proposed “Mega Rule.”

This year, the MDRP event team brought together not one, but TWO keynote speakers:

• Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution; Former Commissioner, FDA; Former Administration, CMS

• Grace-Marie Turner, President, Galen Institute

Hear from them as they share their first-hand experience in managing the true impact of the ACA and Medicaid reform. They will also provide big-picture insights into the politics and policies of Medicaid expansion and discuss the future of Medicaid.

Click here to register with code XP1958DRUG to SAVE $100 off the Current Rate!

Download the Brochure Here for Full Agenda and Speaker Details

More details below.

Today’s guest post comes from Todd Grover, President & CEO of ChainDrugStore.net and Co-Founder of Glass Box Analytics.

Todd reviews the new Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) final rule regarding the disclosure and updating of Maximum Allowable Cost (MAC) reimbursement limits. As Drug Channels readers know, a MAC establishes the reimbursement limit for a multiple-source drug.

He then describes Predictive Acquisition Cost (PAC), an alternative benchmark that aims to get closer to a pharmacy's true acquisition cost. Drug Channels readers can analyze MAC pricing by downloading the PAC – MAC Optimization Calculator, an Excel workbook with data on five key generic drugs.


Please contact Todd (tgrover@glassboxanalytics.com) with any questions about the article.

Hey there, pharmacy reimbursement nerds! The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has a fun new report for you: Comparison of DOD, Medicaid, and Medicare Part D Retail Reimbursement Prices.

The report documents the interplay between a retail pharmacy’s prescription revenues, the consumer’s out-of-pocket expenses, and the net (post-rebate) drug price paid by each program. It also has a good background on how each federal payer operates.

Bottom line: While Medicaid had the biggest rebates, Medicare Part D had the lowest average prescription costs. Although the GAO doesn’t explain this discrepancy, my computations below show that Part D had higher generic dispensing rates than the other government payers. An argument for the triumph of formulary management over federal price controls?