The chain pharmacy store will remove 28 drugs in total from its CVS/Caremark insurance coverage, narrowing the list of approved drugs to lower costs for companies that pay for its employees’ benefits, CNN reports. Cheaper equivalents that are still covered by its insurance plan are available for medicines dropped from the list.
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The headlines belong to Pfizer’s Viagra but CVS/Caremark said yesterday that it is removing more than two dozen additional prescription drugs from its formulary – the list of medications it provides at a steep discount to consumers covered by the health insurance with which it is allied – starting January 1.
CVS is making an effort to direct people toward generic versions of these drugs.
For example, customers taking Pfizer’s Viagra for erectile dysfunction will be able to take Cialis, made by Eli Lilly.
That said, the prescription drug provider will offer alternative medications.
Pharmacy benefit managers like CVS and Express Scripts (ESRX) streamline their list of medications under coverage, amid rising cost of new drugs and the need to factor in a healthy pricing formula.
Indeed, this tactic has resulted in “significant savings” for employers and other sponsors of benefit plans, a CVS spokeswoman said. “Johnson & Johnson’s two-year-old diabetes treatment, Invokana, and a related combination treatment called Invokamet, will also be stripped from CVS coverage”.
As far as Viagra is concerned, coverage from CVC will only be available for that drug’s main competitor, Cialis.
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The full list of the formulary drug removals can be found here.
