Posts Tagged: COVID-19

Medication Affordability Impacted by COVID-19 Says New Survey

Posted March 24, 2021 by Beth Osborne & filed under Pharmacy.

COVID-19’s impact on healthcare, the economy, and everyday life will stay with us for some time. One consequence of the pandemic is the ability of patients to afford their medications. GoodRx published a recent survey on mediation affordability, with some important takeaways for pharmacy and medical leaders.

In this post, we’ll dive into the data and what it means for the healthcare ecosystem.

Almost 40% of Americans Struggled with Medication Affordability

Image: GoodRx

The survey’s biggest takeaway is that a large portion had difficulty affording their prescriptions last year. The survey received answers from over 1,000 individuals that take regular drugs for chronic conditions. Almost 30% said that out-of-pocket costs for their medications went up.

In the last year, many have lost their jobs and access to health insurance. Some individuals even said increased prescriptions affected their ability to afford necessities. Choosing between food, shelter, and medication shouldn’t be a battle, but it is. That was the reality for many before the pandemic. Now more are vulnerable.

Patients Incur Debt to Pay for Meds

The survey also asked how people were paying for their prescriptions. Many tapped into their savings if they had any. Over 20% of those surveyed said they took on debt or filed bankruptcy to afford their medications.

Medication Affordability Increased Medication Nonadherence

Medication nonadherence was already a problem that costs the healthcare system substantially, with expensive hospitalization and deaths. Per the data, patients delayed getting refills, rationed, stopped taking them, and other behaviors.

Image: GoodRx

That’s dangerous and risky for patients and overburdens already maxed out hospitals. Undeniably, the pandemic made healthcare even less affordable. Nearly 24% of respondents said COVID-19 affected their ability to afford insurance.

What’s the Solution for Medication Affordability?

It’s a complex problem with lots of stakeholders. Pharma, payors, providers, pharmacies, regulators, and consumers are all at the table, having different expectations and motivations. However, people shouldn’t die or become sicker because they can’t afford their prescriptions.

Some resources are available to supplement patients. Payment assistance programs operate independently but receive funding from pharma. It can be hard to qualify for these. Medicare and Medicaid take care of many of the most vulnerable, but prescriptions can still be very costly to seniors.

There is perhaps some competition in the workings to deliver affordable medication for all. Mark Cuban is getting tin the drug business. He’s working with Cost Plus Drug Company to offer “radical transparency” to drug pricing. The company will manufacture, distribute, and market all generic drugs with a flat 15% margin. They are working to have 100 drugs available in 2021. That could reduce costs across the board and be good for pharmacies and patients.

Other opportunities for prescription affordability are discount programs like GoodRx. Their platform aggregates current prices and discounts for prescriptions by pharmacy. It lets you know which one has the best pricing and offers coupons.

Is Transparency Becoming Industry-Wide?

In these scenarios, transparency is a driving factor. Regulators are attempting to receive that same transparency from pharma and payors. The Transparency in Coverage final rule requires payers and health plans to disclose and post negotiated during prices.

For pharma, there isn’t a federal statute yet. However, multiple states have their own laws that require life sciences organizations to report their WAC (wholesale acquisition cost). Most of these programs are new, so there’s no definitive data on if disclosure will actually reduce drug prices.

Prescription Drug Costs Are Big Piece of Industry Pie

There are many drivers of increased costs in healthcare in the U.S. Prescription drugs continue to take up a large piece of the pie. A new report found U.S. drug prices are 2.56 times higher than other nations. It’s a spotlight issue that affects millions of Americans. Medication affordability was always a problem; the pandemic just expanded the impact.

Demand for Behavioral Health Services Accelerated During COVID-19, Virtual Visit Adoption Soared

Posted March 4, 2021 by Beth Osborne & filed under Healthcare.

It’s no secret that the pandemic has had physical and mental health consequences. While the physical toil data may be more apparent, a new study of claims data looks at the latter. Cigna, one of the country’s biggest health insurance providers, published a new study analyzing behavioral health services claims. The study found that 97% of people had never had a prior claim for it, demonstrating the demand for this treatment.

About the Study and Its Findings

The study entitled, One-Year Impact of COVID-19: Surging Use of Virtual and Behavioral Health, looked at the pandemic’s impact on mental health and care delivery. Cigna assessed claims data from March to May 2020, the first three months of the pandemic when information was scarce.

The analysis found some other critical data points in addition to the huge jump in first-time patients seeking behavioral health services.

Antidepressant Use Increases

According to the data, the use of antidepressants increased by 7.9%. It also revealed that 32% of patients taking them had no history of taking them in the six months prior.

Who Sought Out Behavioral Health Services?

The majority (63%) of those seeking help were women. That number rose from 48% pre-pandemic. The age groups most seeking help were the youngest populations. Almost half, 45%, of patients were under the age of 30.

Most Behavioral Health Patients Using Telehealth

Cigna also revealed that 60% of its members are using telehealth to receive care. Before the pandemic, virtual visits compromised only 1% of all claims. Now virtual visits represent two-thirds of behavioral care sessions.

That change signifies the adoption of telehealth by patients. Below, you can see the rates of adoption, which are all astronomical.

cigna behavioral health care adoption rate

Image: Cigna

Cigna also followed up on this trend throughout the year. They found it was consistent, with around 66% of all behavioral health claims virtual.

How Do Patients Feel About Virtual Visits?

In the report, Cigna also included data from its Evernorth Opinion Research survey. Over half, 58%, are comfortable with virtual visits. The leading reasons they prefer it revolve around convenience, fewer costs, and enabled long-distance care. Patients also are ready for healthcare at home, with 76% believing that virtual care is the future.

Behavioral Telehealth Is Positive for the Workplace, Too

Behavioral health challenges can be just as demanding as physical ones. Often with support, workers can reduce missed days and positively impact their productivity. Cigna included stats from a separate study focusing on the workplace. The results showed a 45% decrease in missed workdays for telehealth patients.

Final Thoughts on Behavioral Health Services

With the right access, individuals can thrive when addressing mental health concerns. With virtual delivery of behavioral health services, all stakeholders benefit—consumers, payers, providers, and employers.

The demand for telehealth is not likely to fade post-pandemic. Patient consumers appreciate the convenience, and more people suffering may be likely to feel more comfortable with this route. What’s for sure is that behavioral health services can make all the difference in working through uncertainty and trauma.

Digital Vaccine Cards: Is This the Answer to Verifying Vaccinations?

Posted February 19, 2021 by Beth Osborne & filed under Healthcare.

The last year in healthcare has been one of strain and challenges. In such a short time, there’s been years of innovation to deliver the COVID-19 vaccine and facilitate better care. The tie between healthcare and technology is stronger than ever. So with conversations about digital vaccine cards—is this a way to verify vaccinations while also ensuring the security and confidentiality of patient records?

Vaccine Rollouts Are Ramping Up

The initial vaccine rollout was slow. Now government agencies are developing partnerships with providers to ensure it goes faster and smoother. One of the most important relationships is with pharmacists, a group of clinicians that have been on the front lines since day one.

Currently, as most of you have seen, patients receive a paper card with vaccination information. The healthcare ecosystem and consumers are expressing a collective sigh regarding paper-based records. After all, we all carry around little computers that enable users to complete many secure tasks. Yet here we are with paper again. However, there are innovators out there trying to turn this digital.

Verifying Vaccinations Is Both a Complex and Simple Problem

Transmitting verifiable information through secure tunnels and layers of trust isn’t new. These transactions occur every day in healthcare, finance, and many other use cases. Implementing is the real problem. The U.S. healthcare system is fragmented. There are multiple stakeholders, which creates challenges. Interoperability and data exchange are real barriers that impair innovation and better solutions.

The other big problem with a digital vaccine card deployment is that there’s no definitive answer on where people will use it. Will you need it to board a flight? Enter a healthcare facility? Attend an event?

With uncertainty, a system must be flexible to accommodate many outcomes.

Who Are the Parties?

Another aspect of the complexity is the many parties involved in the process. First are the holders or patients. Then there’s the central authority or issuer, which would be the healthcare provider or government entity. Then there’s the verifying party, which could be a lot of different groups, as noted above. The move to require vaccines for certain activities is likely coming. Some airlines are already mandating it, and many other organizations may as well, as long as they are legally able to do so.

Further, in this very big picture, the solution must be global. That’s extremely difficult, but not impossible. The world has standardization around some verifiable documentation like passports.

Where the Process Is

The pathway to creating digital vaccine cards is in motion. A coalition is working on SMART health cards that will include encrypted vaccine records. Members include Cerner, Epic, the Mayo Clinic, Microsoft, Oracle, and Salesforce. That’s an impressive group mixing technology and healthcare.

Any concerns about the security of these digital vaccine cards are also top of mind. Cryptographic protocols are already in existence to protect sensitive data. The biggest constraint is infrastructure. It’s going to require software to integrate healthcare records and appointment platforms. That’s going to be much more expensive than the current paper-based method. The roots of this concern are the systemic issue in healthcare regarding data sharing. This is a moment where the world of healthcare could see a huge leap forward.

Are Digital Vaccine Cards the Answer?

There are many pros to this approach, but there are obstacles ahead. Embracing technology typically translates to positives for people and organizations. It will be exciting to see what happens next. We’ll keep tracking this story and its progress.