First full-year look at public exchange member drug usage released by Prime Therapeutics

ST. PAUL, Minn., March 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- During the first year public health exchanges existed, Prime Therapeutics' (Prime) members who enrolled in plans on these exchanges filled an average of 11.7 prescriptions, exceeding fills by commercial members by 13.6 percent. Public exchange members were also 2.5 times more likely to have hepatitis C or HIV, driving an almost 200 percent higher spend on related medicines. These findings and other key insights on Prime's public exchange members and their drug use were released today in the first full-year pharmacy benefit trend report for this population.

"We entered the first year of public health exchanges like others in our industry – with many unanswerable questions," said Michael Showalter, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Prime. "This report confirms our initial expectations that public exchange members would be, on average, older and have more health care needs than our commercially insured members. Having this full year data will help us better serve our members and clients."

A complete analysis of membership demographics and pharmacy benefit utilization and spend findings are included in Prime's 2014 public exchange report. The report compares trends among Prime's public exchange members (those enrolled in a public health insurance exchange plan) to trends in Prime's commercially insured population (members enrolled in health insurance plans provided by an employer or other organization). The full analysis is based on more than 13 million public exchange claims and more than 143 million commercial claims administered by Prime between Jan. 1, 2014 and Dec. 31, 2014.

Prime's analysis found that while only 0.7 percent of public exchange members had hepatitis C or HIV, the amount spent for treating these conditions among this population was significantly higher than the amount spent for commercial members with the same conditions. More specifically, nearly $1 out of every $5 spent on drugs for public exchange members was spent to treat hepatitis C or HIV.

In the report, Prime's leaders also provide their perspective on what the future holds for public exchanges. They touch on the growth of public exchanges as well as legal uncertainties, economic conditions and market trends that will likely influence this market going forward.

To read more on these findings and others, please view the full report here: http://issuu.com/prime_creative/docs/prime_therapeutics_public_exhange_r_cdbda0fc374dda?e=11661593/11890611.

About Prime Therapeutics
Prime Therapeutics LLC (Prime) helps people get the medicine they need to feel better and live well. Prime manages pharmacy benefits for health plans, employers, and government programs including Medicare and Medicaid. The company processes claims and delivers medicine to members, offering clinical services for people with complex medical conditions. Headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., Prime serves more than 26 million people. It is collectively owned by 13 Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans, subsidiaries or affiliates of those plans. Prime has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the nation.

For more information, visit www.primetherapeutics.com or follow @Prime_PBM on Twitter.

SOURCE Prime Therapeutics LLC

Related Links

http://www.primetherapeutics.com

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