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Poll Says Seniors Like Mail-Order Pharmacy for
Medicare Drug Program
Mail-order pharmacies providing deeper discounts
than retail pharmacies
Feb. 10, 2006 - America's senior citizens
overwhelmingly believe the mail-order pharmacy option is a "good idea"
and more than one-third of seniors say access to a cost- effective
mail-service pharmacy option makes them "more likely" to enroll in the
new Medicare prescription drug benefit, according to a new poll of
seniors released today by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association
(PCMA).
The mail-order pharmacy option is typically used
for 90-day prescriptions for long-term maintenance drugs treating
chronic conditions such as high-blood pressure and high-cholesterol. The
mail-order pharmacy option typically provides consumers and payors with
an additional savings of about 10 percent beyond discounts available
through chain drugstores and independent pharmacies.
PCMA is the national association representing
pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which administer prescription drug
plans for more than 200 million Americans.
"PCMA's new polling data suggest that the
mail-order pharmacy option has the potential to transform the Medicare
prescription drug benefit," said PCMA President Mark Merritt.
"Just last month, CMS researchers credited
mail-order pharmacies as one of the chief causes for prescription-drug
trend dropping to its lowest growth rate in a decade. With mail-order
pharmacies providing deeper discounts than retail pharmacies and seniors
more likely to enroll in the Medicare drug benefit when having this
option, now is the time to do everything we can to promote and enhance
the Medicare mail-order pharmacy option for seniors.
Using the mail-order pharmacy option to its full
potential could save Medicare and seniors $86 billion dollars over the
next ten years."
The poll of 801 Americans 65 years and older was
conducted January 9-11, 2006 by Whit Ayres of Ayres, McHenry &
Associates of Alexandria, Va. The survey's margin of error is ñ3.46
percent. The summary of findings are attached. Among the key findings
from the Ayres, McHenry & Associates survey:
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Related News |
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PCMA Analysis Finds Medicare Prescription Drug
Discounts ‘Real & Holding Steady’ in First 30 Days
PDPs Generating 35 Percent Discounts at Retail
Pharmacies, 46 Percent Discounts at Mail-Service Pharmacies
(Washington, DC) - One month into the new Medicare
prescription drug benefit, discounts on the top 25 drugs prescribed to
seniors and the disabled are holding steady with an average 35 percent
savings on drugs purchased at a retail pharmacy compared to cash-paying
customers and 46 percent for drugs purchased through the mail-service
pharmacy option, according to a new analysis of Medicare drug prices
released today by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA).
PCMA is the national association representing America’s pharmacy benefit
managers (PBMs), which administer prescription drug plans for more than
200 million Americans with health coverage provided through large and
small businesses, health insurers, labor unions, and Medicare.
PCMA’s analysis of Medicare drug prices is based on
prices posted on Medicare’s “Prescription Drug Plan Finder” for the top
25 drug products most commonly used by seniors in five national
prescription drug plans (PDPs). PCMA’s analysis of drug prices was
based on PDP negotiated prices of February 3, 2006.
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Seniors overwhelmingly believe that it is a good
idea for seniors to have the option to get their drugs by mail order,
and that Medicare and insurance companies should offer mail order as an
option for seniors to get their prescription drugs. By an 83 to 6
percent margin, seniors say that it is a good idea "for seniors to have
the option to get their prescription drugs by mail order." Similarly, by
a 75 to 7 percent margin, seniors say that Medicare and insurance
companies should offer mail order as an option for seniors to get
prescription drugs.
Over one-third of seniors say that a mail order
option would make them more likely to sign up for the Medicare
prescription drug benefit. Thirty-seven percent of seniors say that
knowing that they "could get a 90-day supply of prescription drugs by
mail at a cost savings" makes them more likely to sign up for the new
benefit, while 55 percent say it has no effect on their decision to sign
up.
Nearly nine in ten seniors who could be candidates
for using mail-order pharmacies regularly take prescription drugs to
treat an on-going health condition, with more than two-thirds of them
taking three or more drugs on a daily basis. Eighty-five percent of
seniors regularly take prescription drugs to treat an on-going health
condition. Among those who take drugs regularly, 43 percent take three
to five drugs per day, 20 percent take six to ten drugs per day, and 6
percent take more than ten drugs per day.
With the poll finding that 85 percent of seniors
report regularly taking prescriptions to treat an ongoing health
condition, the cost-savings and quality-improvement opportunities
available to Medicare and beneficiaries could be tremendous. An August
2005 Lewin report found that the Medicare program and beneficiaries
could save $86 billion over the next ten years if the mail-order
pharmacy option were used to its full potential in Medicare.
Seniors and disabled beneficiaries currently
enrolled in the new Medicare prescription drug benefit are receiving
deep discounts -- here and now -- through the mail-order pharmacy
option. A PCMA analysis released earlier this month found that in the
first month of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, seniors
choosing the mail-order pharmacy option were achieving discounts
averaging 46 percent and $18 dollars per month per prescription. For
seniors taking multiple drugs -- and PCMA's new polling data finds over
25 percent of seniors take 6 or more drugs daily -- the savings can add
up quickly.
The poll's summary of findings as well as the Lewin
report and PCMA Medicare part D drug discount analysis are all available
at
http://www.pcmanet.org .
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