Medco launches specialty benefit management program

FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J. — Pharmacy benefit manager Medco Health Solutions has launched a medical benefit management program that it said would help control spending on specialty drugs, the company said.



Medco said the program, implemented under a partnership with software developer NovoLogix, would help to better manage specialty drugs covered under major medical plans by bringing greater efficiencies around the coverage of them, while reducing some of the estimated $8 billion in waste incurred each year. The company said medical benefit management would allow it to provide increased cost transparency to health plans and employers that cover specialty drugs under their medical plans. Specialty drugs are medications used to treat complex and chronic health conditions, such as cancers, autoimmune disorders and chronic viral infections.



"We developed this program in order to extend the best practices in specialty pharmacy to major medical coverage," said Frank Sheehy, president of Medco subsidiary Accredo Health Group. "Historically, health insurers and other payers have not focused on the prevention of waste or the management of specialty drugs that fall within the medical benefit."

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