Impact of a Medicaid copayment policy on prescription drug and health services utilization in a fee-for-service Medicaid population.

BACKGROUND: Copayments (copays) for prescription drugs are a common policy among state Medicaid programs. Research exploring the effects of copays on pharmacy and health care utilization in Medicaid patients is limited, especially among patients with chronic disease. OBJECTIVES: The goal of this research was to quantify the impact of a copay policy for prescription drugs on medication and health services utilization overall and among subjects with several common chronic diseases enrolled in a state Medicaid program. RESEARCH DESIGN: Using aggregated pharmacy claims, segmented linear regression models were used to evaluate changes in overall and disease-specific pharmacy utilization after implementation of a copay policy. Trends in emergency department encounters, office visits, and hospitalizations were used to evaluate the impact of this policy on unintended consequences. Utilization among cohorts of patients with several chronic conditions were analyzed to determine if a differential response existed by drug indication. RESULTS: After copay implementation, utilization of prescription drugs declined significantly by 17.2% (P < 0.0001). This pattern was observed at varying degrees for all drug classes investigated. Rates of emergency department encounters, office visits, or hospitalizations did not increase after the policy was introduced. Subjects with diabetes, respiratory disease, and schizophrenia immediately reduced their use of nonindicated drugs significantly more than drugs indicated for their condition. CONCLUSIONS: Among Medicaid recipients, nominal copays are associated with significant reductions in use of clinically important drug classes. However, patients with chronic disease exhibited a differential response depending on the disease indication of the drug class.

Rates of adverse events of long-acting opioids in a state Medicaid program.

BACKGROUND: Despite widespread use and emerging safety concerns, data on the comparative safety and effectiveness of long-acting opioid (LAO) analgesics are weak. OBJECTIVE: To compare rates of adverse events among patients newly prescribed an LAO. METHODS: A retrospective observational cohort study using Medicaid administrative claims data was conducted examining time until first adverse outcome among patients with new prescriptions for methadone, extended-release (ER) oxycodone, ER morphine, or transdermal fentanyl. Adverse outcomes included emergency department (ED) encounters or hospitalizations for opioid-related adverse events, all-cause ED encounters or hospitalizations, death, and diagnoses for opioid-related adverse effects. Cox proportional hazards models were used to adjust for a variety of measured covariates overall and within subgroups of patients with and without cancer. RESULTS: This study included 5684 subjects. Patients prescribed ER oxycodone were 55[corrected]% less likely (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0.45; 95% CI 0.26 to 0.77) to experience an ED or hospitalization involving an opioid-related adverse event, 23% lower risk of hospitalization (adjusted HR 0.77; 95% CI 0.66 to 0.91), 41% lower risk of constipation (adjusted HR 0.59; 95% CI 0.35 to 1.00), and a 29% lower risk of death (adjusted HR 0.71; 95% CI 0.54 to 0.94) compared with those prescribed ER morphine. Among subjects with noncancer pain, fentanyl was associated with a higher risk of ED encounters (adjusted HR 1.27; 95% CI 1.02 to 1.59) and methadone was associated with a greater risk of overdose symptoms (adjusted HR 1.57; 95% CI 1.03 to 2.40) compared with ER morphine. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support a modest safety advantage with ER oxycodone compared with ER morphine. Among subjects with noncancer pain, fentanyl and methadone were associated with an increased risk of an adverse event compared with ER morphine. Additional studies are needed to confirm our findings and further clarify risks associated with different LAOs.

An evaluation of Oregon's evidence-based Practitioner-Managed Prescription Drug Plan.

This paper describes Oregon's implementation of its publicly developed, evidence-based, Practitioner-Managed Prescription Drug Plan (PMPDP). Oregon's PMPDP was initially self-enforced with a dispense as written (DAW) exception process, followed by an educational prior authorization (soft PA) method, and finally no active enforcement. Market-share trends indicate that the educational prior authorization process was most effective at increasing the use of preferred agents. Pharmacy costs decreased 9.1 percent and 17.7 percent after implementation of the DAW and soft PA policies, respectively. Data from nonenforced PMPDP classes showed no change; this suggests the need for effective methods to encourage PMPDP compliance.

Initial results of the use of prescription order change forms to achieve dose form optimization (consolidation and tablet splitting) of SSRI antidepressants in a state Medicaid program.

BACKGROUND: One method to reduce drug costs is to promote dose form optimization strategies that take advantage of the flat pricing of some drugs, i.e., the same or nearly the same price for a 100 mg tablet and a 50 mg tablet of the same drug. Dose form optimization includes tablet splitting; taking half of a higher-strength tablet; and dose form consolidation, using 1 higher-strength tablet instead of 2 lower-strength tablets. Dose form optimization can reduce the direct cost of therapy by up to 50% while continuing the same daily dose of the same drug molecule. OBJECTIVE: To determine if voluntary prescription change forms for antidepressant drugs could induce dosing changes and reduce the cost of antidepressant therapy in a Medicaid population. METHODS: Specific regimens of 4 selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)- citalopram, escitalopram, paroxetine, and sertraline- were identified for conversion to half tablets or dose optimization. Change forms, which served as valid prescriptions, were faxed to Oregon prescribers in October 2004. The results from both the returned forms and subsequent drug claims data were evaluated using a segmented linear regression. Citalopram claims were excluded from the cost analysis because the drug became available in generic form in October 2004. RESULTS: A total of 1,582 change forms were sent to 556 unique prescribers; 9.2% of the change forms were for dose consolidation and 90.8% were for tablet splitting. Of the 1,118 change forms (70.7%) that were returned, 956 (60.4% of those sent and 85.5% of those returned) authorized a prescription change to a lower-cost dose regimen. The average drug cost per day declined by 14.2%, from Dollars 2.26 to Dollars 1.94 in the intervention group, versus a 1.6% increase, from Dollars 2.52 to Dollars 2.56, in the group without dose consolidation or tablet splitting of the 3 SSRIs (sertraline, escitalopram, and immediate-release paroxetine). Total drug cost for the 3 SSRIs declined by 35.6%, from Dollars 333,567 to Dollars 214,794, as a result of a 24.8% decline in the total days of SSRI drug therapy and the 14.2% decline in average SSRI drug cost per day. The estimated monthly cost avoidance from this intervention, based on pharmacy claims data, was approximately Dollars 35,285, about 2% of the entire spending on SSRI drugs each month, or about Dollars 0.09 per member per month. Program administration costs, excluding costs incurred by prescribers and pharmacy providers, were about 2% of SSRI drug cost savings. CONCLUSIONS: Voluntary prescription change forms appear to be an effective and well-accepted tool for obtaining dose form optimization through dose form consolidation and tablet splitting, resulting in reduction in the direct costs of SSRI antidepressant drug therapy with minimal additional program administration costs.

Effects of a prior-authorization policy for celecoxib on medical service and prescription drug use in a managed care Medicaid population.

BACKGROUND: Prior authorization (PA) is a poorly studied but commonly employed policy used by health care payers to manage the rising costs of pharmacy benefits. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the intended and unintended effects of a PA policy for celecoxib on pharmacy and medical-service utilization in a Medicaid managed-care organization. METHODS: This was a retrospective, interrupted time-series analysis of 22 monthly health-related utilization rates from January 1, 1999, to October 31, 2000. All Medicaid claims for CareOregon (a managed-care organization) and a fee-for-service program were reviewed. A model was constructed to evaluate changes in utilization of therapeutically related drug classes (eg, conventional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs [NSAIDs], gastrointestinal agents), office and emergency-department encounters, and hospitalizations before and after the PA policy was implemented on November 16, 1999. A secondary analysis evaluated these changes among a sample of prior NSAID users. RESULTS: After the PA policy was implemented, use of celecoxib was immediately reduced from 1.07 to 0.53 days' supply per person-year (58.9%; 95% CI, 50.0%-67.9%). The monthly rate of increase was also reduced (P < 0.001). Utilization changes were not observed in other drug classes. Similar changes were observed in the secondary analysis. An 18% (95% CI, 2.2%-33.9%) nonsignificant increase in emergency-department visits was observed in the entire sample after the PA policy was implemented. However, a similar change was not observed in the secondary analysis of prior NSAID users. No other changes in medical service encounters were noted after the PA policy was activated. CONCLUSIONS: This observational study found that celecoxib use was substantially reduced after the implementation of a PA policy. No important changes in use of other drug classes were detected. The overall increase in emergency-department visits--although not observed among previous NSAID users--should be explored on the individual level.