US Pharm. 2011;36(6)(Generic Drug Review suppl):3.
Underscoring the importance of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and mail-service pharmacies to generic medication use, the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) issued the following statement: “Proven PBM tools and techniques--including increasing the use of generic medications and lower cost mail-service pharmacies--have helped result in drug spending during the past 3 years growing at its slowest annual rates in more than 40 years.”
In addition, the PCMA statement said, “Independent research confirms that success of mail-service pharmacies in leveraging generic opportunities for savings. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Harvard University both found that mail-service pharmacies practice generic substitution--substituting equivalent generics for brands whenever possible--more frequently than retail pharmacies. Generic prescriptions are also less costly when obtained through mail-service pharmacies, according to research from the FTC and the Government Accountability Office.”
The PCMA statement also noted that “mail-service pharmacies typically dispense medications like cholesterol reducers for chronic conditions that tend to be newer and less available generically compared to medications like antibiotics typically dispensed through retail pharmacies.”
