Patients steered to fewer pharmacies may fill more prescriptions

By Lisa Rapaport (Reuters Health) – When patients have drug benefits that encourage them to save money by using certain pharmacies, they may end up filling more prescriptions, a company-funded study suggests. Narrow pharmacy networks that cover prescriptions only at certain retailers and drug benefits that offer consumers lower out-of-pocket fees at a subset of preferred pharmacies have become more common in recent years as a way to limit premium increases and curb drug spending. The plans have raised concerns that restricting coverage to certain drugstores might make some people less likely to fill prescriptions, especially if the in-network retailers are too far away, said senior study author Dr. William Shrank, chief scientific officer at CVS Health.
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