ICER Reveals Prescription Drug Cost Sharing Policies, Concludes Many Will Dislike Findings

A recent ICER whitepaper discusses a range of policies designed to limit drug prices. It focuses on three main topics related to prescription drug coverage: cost-sharing provisions, benchmarks for clinical eligibility, and economic-step therapy. The authors conclude by noting they expect criticism from an assortment of patient advocates, clinician representatives, and payers, but that this paper is an important step towards a cohesive dialogue.

The authors state, “We believe that there is broad consensus on key ethical goals for access, and that it is possible to translate the goals we set out into fair design criteria to guide the development of specific policies, and, importantly, to provide a framework that patient groups, clinicians and all participants in the health system can all use to engage in discussions around the appropriateness of benefit designs and coverage policies.” Read more here.

(Source: Pearson et al., Future Medicine, 3/1/21)