UnitedHealth Group sales and marketing update

UnitedHealth said it will no longer redeem manufacturer-provided coupon cards for six Tier 3 specialty drugs, effective Jan. 1, 2013. The provider said the decision is expected to manage rising medication costs associated with specialty drugs, which are tiered into three levels based on the specific health care value of each. The healthcare provider noted that although coupons reduce out-of-pocket costs for patients, the discounts do not change the total cost of the drug and therefore increase costs incurred by the employer or healthcare provider. United said there are Tier 2 specialty drug alternatives for each of the six drugs affected, and that in most cases, patient costs for a lower-cost alternative will be similar to costs for a Tier 3 drug with coupons. Drugs affected include HCV drug Victrelis boceprevir from Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK, Whitehouse Station, N.J.). UnitedHealth's Traditional Prescription Drug List for 2013 lists HCV drug Incivek telaprevir from Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTX, Cambridge, Mass.) as a Tier 2 alternative. ...