MEDICAID TO REVISE AMP REIMBURSEMENT FOR GENERICS

Incentives built into the new Medicare Part D drug plan to increase theuse of generic drugs are driving down program costs significantly,according to the results of a new study. Researchers at Verispan foundthat 55% of all prescriptions being filled by Medicare patients during thefirst 3 months of the new program were for generic drugs.

Teva Pharmaceuticals was the leading supplier of drugs for Medicarerecipients enrolled in Part D. Four other generic manufacturers—MylanPharmaceuticals, Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc, IVAX PharmaceuticalsInc, and Mallinckrodt Medical—also ranked among the top 10, theresearchers said.