Express Scripts' Diabetes Care Value Program Aims To Control Plan Costs

(RTTNews) - Express Scripts Holding Co. (ESRX) announced Wednesday the launch of its Diabetes Care Value Program, aiming to improve pharmacy care while controlling plan costs for people with diabetes. The Program will be implemented March 1, 2017.

The new program is part of the Express Scripts SafeGuardRx suite of pharmacy solutions. It combines a novel quality-based pharmacy network, a holistic approach to diabetes patient care and cost management, and financial guarantees. It will significantly reduce participating plans' anticipated increase in diabetes-drug spend for 2017.

The Program features a network of preferred pharmacies that will deliver on a set of quality metrics, including high medication adherence levels for patients with diabetes. Members of participating plans will be able to receive 90-day supplies of their diabetes maintenance medications from more than 10,000 pharmacies across the United States.

All patients enrolled in the program, regardless of which network pharmacy they choose for filling a prescription, can access additional clinical counseling from the diabetes pharmacists within the Express Scripts Diabetes Therapeutic Resource Center.

Express Scripts also announced that its 2017 National Preferred Formulary will include multiple preferred basal insulins. Pending market entry later this year for the country's first follow-on insulin, Basaglar (insulin glargine), Express Scripts plans to add Basaglar as a preferred product for the National Preferred Formulary, alongside the originator product Lantus (insulin glargine).