Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CVS 4Q Earnings Boosted By Medicaid Growth, Specialty Drugs
The Wall Street Journal: CVS Health Boosted By Medicaid Growth
CVS Health Corp. got a boost from its Medicaid business which helped offset retail sales declines in the wake of the company’s decision to stop selling cigarettes. CVS’s pharmacy services business posted a 22% increase in revenue to $23.9 billion for the three months through Dec. 31, driven by continued growth in specialty-pharmacy sales after the acquisition of Coram Specialty Infusion Services. Pharmacy network claims grew 8.2%, primarily because of growth in its Medicaid programs. (Kapner, 2/10)
The Associated Press: Specialty Drugs Help CVS Health Meet 4Q Profit Forecasts
CVS Health’s fourth-quarter earnings climbed more than 4 percent in a performance that matched Wall Street expectations even though the pharmacy chain’s decision to quit tobacco sales delivered an anticipated blow to its drugstore business. The Woonsocket, Rhode Island, company said Tuesday that growing demand for expensive specialty drugs helped increase revenue from its pharmacy benefits management, or PBM, business nearly 22 percent in the quarter to $23.9 billion. That easily countered a 7.2 percent drop in revenue from the front end of its established drugstores, or the area outside the pharmacy. (2/10)
In other marketplace news, The New York Times looks at physician dispensing of prescription drugs -
The New York Times: New Dosages Of Old Drugs Are Used To Raise Their Prices
Doctors have long prescribed a muscle relaxant called cyclobenzaprine to treat injuries like back strains, using five- or 10-milligram pills. But doctors who also dispense the drugs they prescribe directly to patients have recently embraced a new pill that contains 7.5 milligrams of the muscle relaxant. There is no evidence to suggest that the pill works any better except, perhaps, for doctors and the middlemen supplying them. They can charge $3.45, or about five times as much as a five- or 10-milligram pill. (Meier, 2/10)
