Drug Spending Slowed in 2015 After Discounts, CVS Health Says
- After rebates, costs only rose 5 percent for CVS drug plans
- Benefit manager aiming to cut costs on Valeant toe fungus drug
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CVS Health Corp. said drug costs for its plans grew a modest 5 percent in 2015, far less than the 11.8 spending growth rate from a year before.
The company, which manages drug benefit plans for more than 75 million Americans, was able to keep costs down in 2015 by negotiating discounts from big manufacturers and carefully managing its list of covered drugs, CVS’s Chief Medical Officer Troyen Brennan said in an interview Monday. The company also put restrictions on some high-priced drugs, a step that helped keep costs from growing by double digits last year, he said.