"But Even in a Rocky Economy....."

[Triangulation]

This was from the cover of the
Wall Street Journal on Monday March 31. I, in general, highly recommend WSJ. It can give you a lot of information for beefing up your application essays, both for the information and the quality of the writing, but I digress.....

"Pharmacy Benefits managers, the companies behind te cards most Americans use to fill prescirptions, promise to cut costs for empolyers and health plans. But they have a found a way to squeeze impressive profits in an unlikely place: generic drugs.....

....But even in a rocky economy, Express Scripts and its rivals are enjoying robust financial results. Ranked third in its industry based on the 50 million people it covers. St. Louis based Express Scripts reported that its net income grew 63% last year to $202.8 million. The company in business since in 1986, has said it expects its earnings per share to grow up to 25% this year. AdvancePCS, the nation's largest publicly traded PBM, has said its earning grew 44% for the nine-month period that ended Dec 31, compared with the year earlier period.

HOW GENERICS YIELD BIG PROFITS

Pt's copayment to pharmacy $5
PBM's payment to pharmacy $2.50
What manufacturer charges
pharmacy for rx $1.50

Pharmacy's Profit[ /B] $6
PBM bill to pt's employer $13
PBM's profit $10.50
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Kinda depends on how you look at this to get an opinion if we pharmacists are getting screwed in this deal or not

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[Triangulation]

bump

 

[pomelolover]

thanks for bumping this one--- its always good to know about this... at my work we are being challenged (in a good way) to strongly encourage generics. actually, we offer the generic unless the m.d. or customer has requested the brand. but nevertheless, its good to know the news on this.

i've always found wsj difficult to read- maybe its just my simple mind....i cancelled my subscriptin but maybe i'll get it again.

 

[jdpharmd?]

Originally posted by pomelolover
thanks for bumping this one--- its always good to know about this... at my work we are being challenged (in a good way) to strongly encourage generics. actually, we offer the generic unless the m.d. or customer has requested the brand. but nevertheless, its good to know the news on this.

i've always found wsj difficult to read- maybe its just my simple mind....i cancelled my subscriptin but maybe i'll get it again.

Isn't it the law to dispense the generic drug if it's available unless the dr. or paitent wants the brand name drug? Maybe I'm just thinking of Medicaid rules...

 

[Triangulation]

i've always found wsj difficult to read- maybe its just my simple mind....i cancelled my subscriptin but maybe i'll get it again.

Nah, if you look for articles that pertain to you (and there's a ton that are pharmacy/health related) you'll enjoy it. I just really enjoy the style of writing. They love to throw in ironic twists.

I'm actually tutoring a pre-med for the aug MCAT and I make him read two or three articles from wsj each session we meet. It's great stuff.