As angst mounts over prescription drug costs, a survey finds that most health plans would like to pay for many of the highest-priced medicines based on patient outcomes. The findings suggest that insurers hope to get tougher with drug makers as prescription medicines, by some estimates, account for more than one-fifth of overall health care costs.
In these arrangements, a health plan may get an extra discount from a drug maker if a medicine does not help patients as much as expected, or a drug maker may get a credit toward a rebate provided to a health plan. The survey, released last week, found interest was particularly strong for hepatitis C and oncology drugs, although plans have started to use these arrangements for other types of drugs, as well.
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