Health Risk Solutions
New Drugs Will Lower Cholesterol While Raising Costs
A new class of injectable medications will soon be available for use in treating high cholesterol. These drugs are called PCSK9 inhibitors, and they’re currently still in development by a variety of pharmaceutical companies. Approvals are expected midyear. While news...
Beware the Lady Killer
February is a month that’s all about the heart. No, not just Valentine’s Day. I’m talking about American Heart Month. Not too long ago it was thought that heart disease was a problem for men. Warnings for men to recognize chest pain and left arm pain helped educate us...
How Employers Can Help Prevent Cancer
What if there was a way to prevent certain cancers? Good news! There is, if you make some straightforward decisions about certain aspects of your life. Specifically, I’m talking about good nutrition, regular exercise, and maintaining a healthy weight. While most...
Praise Me, Include Me, and Make Me Healthy…Please.
Employers today are dealing with a multigenerational workforce that includes a mix of Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y (which, interestingly enough, may not really exist because it’s so indistinct), and…ta da! The Millennials. This most recent generation is the largest age...
Obesity Costs the World $2 Trillion
Obesity continues to garner significant attention, both in the medical community and in the media. That’s no surprise because the problem isn’t going away, and in fact continues to worsen. It’s estimated that half of the world population will be obese by 2030 if the...
A Glimpse into the Future of Pharmacy Benefits
It’s no secret that the costs for prescription drugs are skyrocketing. What’s interesting (and disheartening) is that costs are increasing rapidly whether we’re talking about new drugs being introduced into the marketplace (think $85,000-100,000 to treat hepatitis C)...
The Hep C Drug Field Narrows
Today Bristol-Myers Squibb announced their decision to pull out of the hepatitis C drug race. We were expecting to see a combination therapy from Bristol-Myers in December or early 2015. Gilead, the manufacturer of Sovaldi and another Sovaldi combination therapy...
Ebola: What Employers Need to Know Today
You may be wondering what impact the Ebola virus might have on your business and/or employees. Should your employees stop traveling? Just how contagious is the virus anyway? Lockton consulted with our medical, pharmacy, and benefits experts, plus some external...
Cost Predictions for Gilead’s Next Hep C Treatment
There has been much criticism around Gilead’s hepatitis C treatment, Sovaldi, which runs $84,000 per treatment. When we add in the cost of the other medications that must be taken in combination with Sovaldi, the total cost of treatment is around $95,000. Don’t expect...
The Skinny on BMI and Waist Circumference
As more worksite wellness programs rely on biometric screening data to identify health risks in employees, it’s important to understand which tests offer the most accurate results. To screen for obesity, many employers measure body mass index (BMI) or waist...
States (and Eventually Employers) Considering the High Cost of Hepatitis C Treatment
The high cost of Sovaldi, a breakthrough treatment for hepatitis C, has been garnering significant media attention. (See my previous post.) Now Express Scripts has taken that cost and extrapolated it to forecast what state governments might end up spending on new...
Another Generic Medication Pricing “Gotcha”
As I described in a recent blog post (Peeking Behind the Curtain of Generic Medications), generic medications are not automatically less expensive than their brand equivalents. When a new generic drug is launched, there’s a period of exclusivity during which prices...
Peeking Behind the Curtain of Generic Medications
Typically, when brand name drug patents are expiring and generic equivalents are about to hit the market, those affected most rejoice! And why wouldn’t they? Logic suggests that prices will immediately drop, helping employees who are on these medications and their...
Do High-Cost Drugs Save Money in the Long Run?
What happens when employers are forced to choose between their earnings per share and the opportunity to cure employees facing serious illness via expensive medication? That’s a very real dilemma that may soon face companies, thanks to the tidal wave of expensive...
Reframing the Question of Preventive Care
Although the idea of workplace wellness programs as a strategy for reducing costs and absenteeism is no longer new, certain questions remain prevalent among our employer clients and prospects. On a fairly regular basis, Lockton’s Health Risk Solutions Consultants are...