(Washington, DC)—Priority Healthcare is the newest member of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association’s (PCMA) Specialty Pharmacy Council, the association announced today. Headquartered in Lake Mary, Florida, Priority Healthcare Corporation is a leading national specialty pharmacy and distribution company providing biopharmaceutical services for patients with chronic diseases or genetic disorders that require complex therapies.

“PCMA is pleased to welcome Priority Healthcare as the newest member of the Specialty Pharmacy Council,” said PCMA President Mark Merritt. “With PCMA’s Specialty Pharmacy Council, specialty pharmacy providers have their first-ever national representation that allows them to speak with one voice in the public policy arena. Given its size and distinguished history, Priority Healthcare’s participation will only add to the depth and breadth of PCMA’s Specialty Pharmacy Council.”

Comprised of industry leaders from PBMs, health insurers, and independent specialty pharmacy providers, PCMA’s Specialty Pharmacy Council provides the first-ever national forum allowing the industry to speak with one voice before policymakers, opinion leaders, and others. Council members include:

Caremark Rx, Inc.
Cigna Pharmacy Management
CuraScript Biotech Solutions/Express Scripts
McKesson Specialty Solutions
Medco Health Solutions, Inc.
Option Care
Prescription Solutions
Priority Healthcare
WellPoint Pharmacy Management
Increasingly, PBMs, insurers, and specialty pharmacy providers are working together in an effort to provide an integrated and seamless pharmacy benefit to consumers and purchasers. As demand for new and costly specialty pharmaceuticals grows rapidly, specialty pharmacy providers are essential to providing tailored pharmacy management, promoting quality, and reining in costs for over thirty different complex medical conditions, such as HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, hemophilia, and rheumatoid arthritis. Specialty pharmaceuticals, including injectibles and biologics, cost as much as $35 billion a year â?? and are growing at double the rate of traditional drug therapies due to expanding development and growing utilization. For private and public payers, including Medicare and Medicaid, the cost and appropriate management of these therapies present an ongoing challenge that serves to underscore the need for effective specialty pharmacy management services.

PCMA will host a Specialty Pharmacy Symposium June 13, 2005 in New York, NY, as well as the first annual PCMA Specialty Pharmacy Annual Meeting October 24-25, 2005 in Indian Wells, CA.
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The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) is the national trade association representing America’s pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). PCMA member companies provide pharmaceutical care management services to more than 200 million Americans.

Contact Information:
Phil Blando
202-207-3614

Center for Studying Health System Change
Finds That Insured Consumers with PBM Drug Coverage

Report Far Fewer Prescription Drug Access Problems

(Washington, DC)—A new survey out today finds that consumers with drug benefits provided through pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and private health insurance are far less likely to report having problems affording their prescription drugs as do consumers with drug coverage provided through public programs that generally don’t rely on PBMs, underscoring the need for policymakers to embrace PBM tools, the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) said today. PCMA is the national association representing America’s pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). The survey, “An Update on Americans’ Access to Prescription Drugs,” was conducted by researchers at the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC).

“All roads to expanded access and lower prescription drug costs lead to pharmacy benefit managers,” said PCMA President Mark Merritt in commenting on the new analysis. “PBM tools used in the private sector result in far fewer prescription-drug access problems for consumers than government regulatory approaches commonly used in programs like Medicaid. Policymakers should build on PBMs’ proven record of lowering costs and expanding access to prescription drugs.”

According to the HSC survey, chronically ill consumers without prescription drug coverage report far greater access problems than consumers with PBM-administered drug coverage. In 2003, about half of chronically ill, uninsured consumers went without at least one prescription drug, according to the survey. For working-age adults with public insurance—primarily Medicaid—one-third reported an access problem. In marked contrast, just 15 percent of the chronically ill consumers served by PBMs and private insurance reported access problems with prescription drugs.

On a positive note, chronically ill elderly Medicare beneficiaries with employer-sponsored retiree coverage reported fewer prescription drug access problems in 2003 than in 2001. A majority of employer-sponsored retiree drug coverage is administered by PBMs. PBMs are expected to play a central role in administering the Medicare part D prescription drug benefit beginning in 2006.

PBMs administer prescription drug plans for more than 200 million Americans with prescription drug coverage provided through the nation’s small and large employers, Taft-Hartley union plans, health insurers, state and federal-employee benefit plans, and Medicare Advantage health plans. PBMs help drive down the cost of prescription drugs for consumers and plan sponsors â?? on average by 25 percent â?? by negotiating discounts with drug manufacturers and retail pharmacies. These savings are, in turn, passed on to consumers. PBMs also provide consumers with important quality protections, such as disease management and physician and patient education. PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that PBMs will save consumers and employers $1.3 trillion dollars on prescription drug costs over the next decade.
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The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) is the national trade association representing America’s pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). PCMA member companies provide pharmaceutical care management services to more than 200 million Americans.

Contact Information:
Phil Blando
202-207-3614

(Washington, DC)—Mark Merritt, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA), issued the following statement in response to the introduction of S. 975, the Project BioShield II Act of 2005:

” As policymakers work to develop countermeasures to bioterrorism, it is essential that they take into account the human and economic effects these proposals would have on the current health care marketplace. For example, the Project Bioshield II Act contains patent extension provisions that are sharply at odds with bipartisan efforts to reduce health care costs, to expand access to coverage for the uninsured, and to implement a workable and cost-effective Medicare prescription drug benefit.

” Based upon an initial review of the legislation, PCMA has serious concerns that patent extension provisions contained in the proposal could have the unintended consequence of increasing prescription drug costs for consumers and purchasers throughout the entire health care system, including in the commercial marketplace and in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

” As this debate continues, PCMA looks forward to reviewing this proposal in greater detail and in assessing its impact on prescription drug costs for consumers and purchasers throughout the entire health care system.”

” PCMA believes that a strong national defense policy should and must include efforts to develop new countermeasures to help combat the threat of bioterrorism. PCMA applauds Senators Hatch, Lieberman, and Brownback for their longstanding efforts to address this critically important national issue.”

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The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) is the national trade association representing America’s pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). PCMA member companies provide pharmaceutical care management services to more than 200 million Americans.

Contact Information:
Phil Blando
202-207-3614