BRIDGE
RX
Medicare | Rx Companies
Developing Plan
To Provide Discounted Drugs To Fill 'Doughnut Hole'
in Medicare Drug Benefit
[Feb 07, 2006]
A group of seven pharmaceutical companies is working on a plan
that would provide discounted prescription drugs to Medicare
beneficiaries whose annual drug costs fall into the so-called "doughnut
hole," or the gap in coverage under the new Medicare drug
benefit.
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Under the drug benefit, Medicare
beneficiaries are responsible for all drug costs between $2,250 and
$5,100 in total spending, or between $750 and $3,600 in out-of-pocket
costs. An estimated 6.9 million Medicare beneficiaries are expected to
reach the doughnut hole in 2006, according to the Kaiser Family
Foundation, the Journal reports.
According to documents filed on Jan. 12 with the HHS Office of Inspector
General, the pharmaceutical companies are joining together to
provide discounts of at least 50% on their drugs when qualifying
Medicare beneficiaries reach the doughnut hole.
The Bridge Rx program, which the
companies hope to announce in April and launch in May, would have
co-payments of at least 15%, the Journal reports. Medicare
beneficiaries with annual incomes between $14,000 and $18,620 would
qualify for the program, as would beneficiaries who have annual incomes
lower than $14,000 and assets that make them ineligible for additional
financial help under the drug benefit.
The projected budget for the program's
first year is $30 million, with projected enrollment in 2006 of more
than 500,000 Medicare beneficiaries. Companies that plan to participate
in the program include AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis and
Bristol-Myers Squibb. A coalition
of drug manufacturers is working on a plan to help millions of
low-income seniors pay for drugs when they hit the so-called doughnut
hole in the new Medicare drug benefit.
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RX - PHARMACIES
NEWS
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During a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Oversight Subcommittee on Thursday, executives from Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and a joint-venture between Merck and
Publ.Date : Mon, 12 May 2008 03:00:00 PDT
The NPA has produced a resource for the promotion of safer measurement and administration of liquid medicines. It is the final resource in the current series from the NPA in light of recent NPSA patient safety alerts. The NPA resource, 'Promoting safer measurement and administration of liquid medicines' is composed of a template SOP and guidance notes.
Publ.Date : Mon, 12 May 2008 05:00:00 PDT
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