PharmaCare and Blue Cross are hoping a program launched in Rhode Island promoting the use of generic drugs will be a significant step in driving down the cost of prescription medicines.
The joint program, originally piloted in the summer of 2002 by PharmaCare Management Services and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, was rolled out to a larger number of participants across the country this summer. The GENesis Voucher program encourages doctors to offer patients a coupon good for a free co-pay on the prescription of a generic drug in an effort to combat free samples often distributed during the launch of brand-name pharmaceuticals.
Greg Weishar, president of Lincoln-based PharmaCare, the prescription benefit manager subsidiary of CVS Corp., said generic drugs are a key component in any effort to save the company’s clients money – a goal Blue Cross also naturally has a stake in.
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In the past, Weishar said PharmaCare’s programs have involved either placing vouchers for generic drugs in doctors’ offices or electronic sampling, where the supply of available samples can be better matched with patient demand. While those passive approaches have been met with a solid response, Weishar said the GENesis program is the first time the company is going directly to doctors. The hope is utilization rates will be even higher without relying on a pharmacist to suggest a switch, instead having a physician write a prescription for the generic drug from the start.
“This is one of the things that over time is really going to make the cost of people’s drugs go down,” Weishar said. “Or at least put the price in a more manageable framework.”
Dr. Mark Rosenberg, a family medical physician in Cranston, is one of the doctors who has been participating in the program since the start of the summer after hearing about GENesis through a Blue Cross representative. When generic drugs can be offered as an alternative, Rosenberg said it comes down to communication between doctors and their patients.
“I’m a big fan of generics,” Rosenberg said. “They’re chemically identical to the trade-name drugs people are more familiar with and they work the same way. Patients are pretty receptive when it’s explained that way.”
Weishar said there are a significant amount of drugs scheduled to come off patent within the next several years. He said industry estimates are that half of the current dollars spent on drugs could be used for generics that will be available within the next five years. And while PharmaCare has estimated the program saves members about $100 annually, Weishar said that number is very conservative, adding that the figure is closer to $600 for patients who use maintenance drugs.
Dan Curran, Blue Cross’ pharmacy manager, worked closely on the project with PharmaCare to get the program off the ground. Curran said GENesis marks the first time Blue Cross is directly involving physicians in trying to promote generic drugs, although the company has used advertising and direct mailings in the past. Last year, the insurer began mailing coupons to members for free co-pay on generic drugs and saw about 20 percent of those members make the switch to generics.
About 15 doctors have been participating in the program locally, which should
soon expand to about 25, and Curran said the hope is to spread that number even
further throughout the Blue Cross network. The existing program will continue
running at least through the end of the year, when Blue Cross will ask for input
from participating doctors and patients on what sort of barriers remain to using
generics.
