Drugstores Fret as Insurers Demand Pills by Mail - 01/10/05
Article from the New York Times Online

Employer health plans across the country are forcing millions of consumers to change their drug-buying habits. And one side effect could be the decline of the neighborhood drugstore.

Instead of picking up their medicines at a local pharmacy, growing numbers of consumers will be required - starting this month when new health plans take effect - to buy dozens of widely used drugs, like insulin for diabetes or Lipitor to lower cholesterol, by mail order.

Employers and the companies that manage prescription drug insurance coverage favor mail-order pharmacies because they can get lucrative rebates and deep discounts from drug makers when they buy in volume. Those savings, which are said to amount to hundreds of millions of dollars a year, can then be shared with employers and health plans.

Distributing drugs by mail order also gives the drug-insurance managers - known as pharmacy-benefit managers - more control over which drugs are used, because they can ask doctors to change prescriptions before the drugs are delivered.

Across the country, many state and city governments, as well as private employers, already require employees to obtain their medications for chronic conditions through the mail. Early last year, General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler and the United Automobile Workers introduced a mandatory mail-order requirement, which now applies to more than two million auto industry workers and retirees. Full Story...

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