According to Physician’s Briefing, insurance companies are beginning to recruit people from the pharmaceutical industry to help strategize cost-cutting.
Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan (CDPHP), an Albany, NY, insurer, is hiring former pharma representatives and staffing a sales force to develop cost-effective medicine.
They have been able to address rising costs of prescription medications, such as Glumetza (metformin hydrochloride), manufactured by Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which reached a price of $81,270 per year.
When CDPHP doctors were informed of the price, most of the 60 plan members who were taking Glumetza were switched to the generic alternative, saving $5 million in one year.
Read more at www.physiciansbriefing.com
