Employees of the health services offshoot of Telus Communications are only reimbursed for certain drug prescriptions if they fill them through the company’s own virtual pharmacy, CBC News has learned.
It states that the company’s "virtual pharmacy’ is now the “preferred provider” for the group prescription drug plan, saying it has “lower markups and dispensing fees than the industry average.”
The Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA) says on its website that steering employees to specific pharmacies is a growing trend, but its position is that companies should not be able to direct where patients get their medications.
Telus Health said in a statement to CBC News that the policy “is in line with the standard approach” of other pharmacy companies and that the move “offers a range of advantages, including enhanced coinsurance and reduced dispensing fees.”
Because Canadians mostly get private insurance coverage through their workplaces, they can expect to see employers try new strategies to control drug costs, says Quinn Grundy, a researcher who studies the activities of corporations in relation to health care at the University of Toronto.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is currently probing their practices, including steering patients toward pharmacies owned by PBMs, and their impact on prescription drug access and affordability.
The original article contains 1,050 words, the summary contains 197 words. Saved 81%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
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Employees of the health services offshoot of Telus Communications are only reimbursed for certain drug prescriptions if they fill them through the company’s own virtual pharmacy, CBC News has learned.
It states that the company’s "virtual pharmacy’ is now the “preferred provider” for the group prescription drug plan, saying it has “lower markups and dispensing fees than the industry average.”
The Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA) says on its website that steering employees to specific pharmacies is a growing trend, but its position is that companies should not be able to direct where patients get their medications.
Telus Health said in a statement to CBC News that the policy “is in line with the standard approach” of other pharmacy companies and that the move “offers a range of advantages, including enhanced coinsurance and reduced dispensing fees.”
Because Canadians mostly get private insurance coverage through their workplaces, they can expect to see employers try new strategies to control drug costs, says Quinn Grundy, a researcher who studies the activities of corporations in relation to health care at the University of Toronto.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is currently probing their practices, including steering patients toward pharmacies owned by PBMs, and their impact on prescription drug access and affordability.
The original article contains 1,050 words, the summary contains 197 words. Saved 81%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!