Long-Term Care

Insurance reducing experimental drug coverage

Contemporary Long-Term Care Weekly, October 11, 2007

Health insurers are limiting coverage of high-cost specialty drugs in an effort to control healthcare expenses, according to the Wall Street Journal. Insurance officials explain that specialty drugs cost thousands of dollars for a relatively small portion of the population, and the New Jersey consulting firm, Health Strategies Group, reports these drugs account for one-quarter of the total drug spending in the U.S.

Insurers maintain they must control healthcare costs due to inflation and will only cover drugs the FDA has specifically approved as treatments or for which there is extensive clinical testing. Insurers do not have leverage when it comes to negotiating the prices of specialty drugs because they often extend lives and have little competition.

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