Cost sharing and branded antidepressant initiation among patients treated with generics.
CONCLUSIONS: In MDD, patients and clinicians who dutifully adhere to guidelines requiring a trial of first-line medication may ultimately require therapy with alternate agents to achieve adequate disease control. A "reward the good soldier" benefit design would lower cost sharing for higher-tier evidence-based therapies when clinically indicated. Results suggest that narrowing the gap in cost sharing between branded and generic medications following a trial of a generic agent might improve access to second-line treatment in MDD.
PMID: 29668208 [PubMed - in process]
Source: The American Journal of Managed Care - Category: Health Management Authors: Buxbaum JD, Chernew ME, Bonafede M, Vlahiotis A, Walter D, Mucha L, Fendrick AM Tags: Am J Manag Care Source Type: research