(Photo: Shutterstock)
Access to specialty drugs through commercial health plans decreased from 2017 to 2021, and less than half of plans were consistent with FDA drug label indications, a recent study found. The National Pharmaceutical Council conducted the study in partnership with the Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health at Tufts Medical Center.
"Our study indicates that the use of these restrictions is on the rise," said Rochelle R. Henderson, Ph.D., who led the study. "It is important for employers, benefit advisors and brokers to consider that these restrictions can hinder patient access to the treatments their clinicians prescribe and worsen their outcomes while increasing health system costs. Our study suggests that some payers might be doing the math and not appreciating the downsides of placing hurdles in front of patients."
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
