For certain prescription drugs, special rules restrict how and when the plan covers them. A team of doctors and pharmacists developed these rules to help our members use prescription drugs in the most effective ways. These special rules also help control overall drug costs, which keeps your drug coverage more affordable.
In general, our rules encourage you to get a drug that works for your medical condition and is safe and effective. Whenever a safe, lower-cost drug will work medically just as well as a higher cost drug, the plan’s rules are designed to encourage you and your provider to use that lower-cost option. We also need to comply with Medicare’s rules and regulations for drug coverage and cost-sharing.
Our utilization management program includes prior authorization, step therapy, and quantity limits. Our program applies these tools to ensure safe and cost-effective use of drugs on our plan’s drug formulary.