Educational Briefs

Did you know US health care spending increased 4.6 percent to reach $3.8 trillion, or $11,582 per person in 2019?

It is crucial National CooperativeRx works to identify products and service providers that may result in low value and higher costs to our members. This means using our clinical experts and our high-dollar claim review programs to manage high-cost medications and save millions of dollars from going into the wrong hands.

According to The Journal of Headache and Pain, migraine affects at least one in six Americans and 14% of people globally. As the third most common disease in the world and the second leading cause of global disability, it is important to understand what migraine is and how the therapeutic class is affecting prescription drug spend.

Fraud, waste and abuse adds billions of dollars in costs to health care annually. The pharmacy benefit is not immune. Read on to see how National CooperativeRx ensures our members’ dollars are being used effectively and efficiently.

Question: What happens when our pharmacists focus on ditching unnecessary expenses and help our members streamline their pharmacy benefit plans?
Answer: Our members save $11.2 MILLION in one year.

Did you know the first gene therapy wasn’t approved in the US until 2017?
Read on to discover the advancements currently being made and how gene therapy is poised to revolutionize modern medicine.

Identity theft is a term commonly associated with financial transactions, but did you know it can also happen with medical and pharmaceutical information?

Did you know that each year in the US, 2.8 million people are infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, resulting in more than 35,000 deaths? National CooperativeRx has the scoop on why antibiotic resistance is a societal threat and what you can do to prevent it.

Did you know over 53 percent of millenials made travel plans this year?
Your health and pharmaceutical needs don’t take a vacation. National CooperativeRx has you covered.

Opioids are a class of drugs that include illegal drugs such as heroin and prescription drugs like Oxycontin and Vicodin. Designed to “interact with opioid receptors on nerve cells in the body and brain, [they] produce pleasurable effects and relieve pain.”¹
Drug overdoses are a leading cause of accidental death; it is crucial that steps are taken to combat this national crisis.

Why are drug costs rising?
How can your plan get the most out of its pharmacy benefit dollars?
Use National CooperativeRx’s proven methods to lower your drug spend costs.

While vaccines are becoming increasingly accessible, vaccination rates are still far from desirable and well below government goals. A study from the University of North Carolina found that over the 2015-2016 flu season, “the flu accounted for $5.8 billion in health care and lost productivity costs. Some 80 percent of those losses were tied to people who chose not to get vaccinated.”

Specialty drugs may only be used by 1-2% of individuals, but they account for approximately 40% of drug spend. With 31 new specialty drugs slated to be approved in 2017, this drug category will continue to drive trend.

Copay card programs are made available to consumers by drug companies in an effort to steer them towards purchasing their particular drugs. They reduce or completely cover the consumer’s out-of-pocket cost.

Discount card programs — the name speaks for itself. Organizations such as GoodRx and Blink Health will distribute them for free with the promise of saving money on prescription drugs. Sound too good to be true? It just might be.

Click on the title to download this handy glossary for definitions regarding your pharmacy benefit.

“National CooperativeRx does a number of things very well. The education, the updates and the clinical programs are really what is appreciated once they become members.”
– Mark Mason, Insurance Broker

Using an approved drug for a disease or medical condition that it was not approved to treat is known as off-label drug use. It is a common occurrence across the nation and has recently increased in popularity with type 2 diabetes medications being used for weight loss…