CIGNA Pharmacy Management Achieves Highest Generic Utilization Ever – Aims for 60 Percent in 2006

Through its generic drug conversion program, Save with Generics, CIGNA Pharmacy Management (CPM) ended 2005 with a 56% generic utilization rate (December) for its commercial business, its highest rate ever, and set its sight on achieving a 60% generic utilization rate by the end of 2006.

To help reach the 60% level, CPM has rolled out proactive initiatives, including a Zocor^® Coupon program. The program targets specific members and offers them a coupon worth $20 off their cost for their first prescription of Zocor, a cholesterol lowering medication.  The letter also informs members that they may save even more by considering the generic version of Zocor, simvastatin, when it becomes available this summer. Zocor is not the only medication slated to have a generic version released this year. An abbreviated list of some of the others is provided below.

Last September, CPM introduced a reduced copay offer program, in which members received a discount up to $20 off their first fill of select generic medications (for conditions including depression, stomach acid, arthritis pain, diabetes, high cholesterol or high blood pressure) if they switched from the brand drug they were using. CPM estimates that savings could be as high as $236 million a year if every eligible member takes advantage of the offer.

Save with Generics consists of three major components: member outreach, physician outreach and generic couponing. The member outreach program informs members of generic counterparts to medications they currently take. The physician outreach program alerts doctors to potential generic therapeutic alternatives to brand drugs with no generic chemically equivalent counterpart. The generic couponing program sends coupons to enrolled members that will reduce their copay/coinsurance for the first fill of several cost-effective generic medications.

Expected Generic Releases for 2006

Generic Drug Name Brand Equivalent Expected Release Date Indication simvastatin Zocor® June 06 Cholesterol sertraline Zoloft® June 06 Depression pravastatin Pravachol® April 06 Cholesterol meloxicam Mobic® June 06 Pain & Inflammation zolpidem Ambien® October 06 Sleep Aid terbinafine Lamisil® December 06 Antifungal ondansetron Zofran® December 06 Nausea