Prime says drug spending down in 2017

Prime Therapeutics LLC (Eagan, Minn.) said overall member spending in 2017 dropped 0.2% for commercial drugs, 0.8% for Medicare Part D drugs and 5.4% for Medicaid drugs compared to 2016.

The PBM said autoimmune drugs were a major driver of spending on specialty medicines, which increased 13% for commercial patients and 3.9% for Medicare Part D patients but fell 1.8% for Medicaid patients. However, Prime said those pressures were offset through discounts, reduction in pain medication expenditures and its GuidedHealth program. The company said GuidedHealth, a treatment adherence and electronic health record platform, provided savings of more than $375 million...