BLOG POST: FORMULARY RESTRICTIONS DEVALUE AND ENDANGER THE LIVES OF DISABLED PEOPLE
10.29.18
As policymakers around the world seek to manage rising drug expenditures, people with disabilities find ourselves increasingly concerned by the potential harms that cost-cutting measures may bring. The growing fight between health care purchasers and drug manufacturers offers yet another instance where people with disabilities and chronic conditions may find themselves caught in the cross-fire.
CVS Caremark’s recently announced policy allowing self-insured employers to exclude new drugs from their formularies based on a flawed cost-effectiveness measure has brought this conflict into the spotlight. We can better understand the threat this policy poses by examining the effects of the United Kingdom’s use of the same measure in drug coverage decisions. It is also important to understand that this is not an isolated threat for disabled people – proposed changes to Medicare and Medicaid drug coverage rules also imminently risk endangering patients by introducing restrictive access policies that devalue disabled lives.