MADISON, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As plan sponsors continuously look for ways to reduce medication costs and improve member health, Navitus Health Solutions, a full pass-through pharmacy benefits management company, announced today that it is offering a new SMS-based program that will allow eligible Navitus members to earn discounts on their prescription copays by taking their medications as prescribed.
Medication costs can be a barrier to patients taking their medication as directed by their doctor and pharmacist. In fact, according to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, medication is not taken as prescribed 50 percent of the time, and one in four Americans say it is difficult to afford their medications.1,2 As a result, it is estimated that non-adherence to medication leads to $100-$290 billion in direct and indirect costs annually.3
To improve adherence and affordability for chronic disease medications, Navitus is partnering with Sempre Health, to offer point-of-sale copay discounts and an SMS-based engagement program to incentivize its members. Sempre’s program lowers copays when members fill their prescriptions consistently and on time, reminds members when it’s time for a refill and can even submit refill requests on the member’s behalf.
“Cost and medication adherence are two of the largest challenges in health care,” said Navitus SVP, and Chief Pharmacy Officer Brent Eberle. “We’re excited to offer our clients an innovative technology-based approach that enables their members to save on copays for specific drugs, when they take their medication as prescribed.”
Navitus will introduce Sempre to clients as a free program in August 2020. As members enroll, their copay discounts will be immediately available on eligible medications at the pharmacy they normally use. If members elect to refill elsewhere, they can show their pharmacist a text from Sempre to take advantage of the program discounts. Each time members refill their eligible prescription on time, their discounts can grow—saving them an average of 45% per year on their annual prescription costs and improving member adherence by 15-19%.
“Like Navitus, Sempre is committed to improving member health and making prescriptions more affordable,” said Anurati Mathur, founder and CEO of Sempre Health. “By providing escalating savings directly to patients, Sempre engages and incentivizes those who prioritize medication adherence and make healthy lifestyle choices. Partnerships like this with Navitus allow us to bring those savings to more people throughout the country, especially while COVID-19 continues to put pressure on our health system and create uncertainty in patients’ lives.”
To learn more about Navitus’ comprehensive suite of programs and services for members and plan sponsors, visit www.navitus.com.
About Navitus.
Navitus Health Solutions is owned by SSM Health and Costco Wholesale Corporation and serves as a full pass-through pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) and industry alternative to traditional models. As such, Navitus is committed to taking the unnecessary costs out of pharmacy benefits to make prescriptions more affordable for its over 650 plan sponsors (e.g., employers, health plans, unions, governments, etc.) and their 6.2 million members. By combining a unique pass-through approach that returns 100% of rebates and discounts with a focus on lowest-net-cost medications and comprehensive clinical care programs, Navitus helps reduce costs and improve member health. To learn more about Navitus, call (877) 571-7500 or visit www.navitus.com.
About Sempre Health
Sempre Health works with leading health plans and pharmaceutical companies to reduce the cost of copayments for patients who refill their prescriptions on time. By combining technology, behavioral science and dynamic pricing, Sempre Health aims to boost all of its members' medication adherence to meet or exceed 80 percent -- the widely acknowledged gold standard. Doing so will dramatically improve the health of millions of people and save hundreds of billions of dollars in avoidable medical costs. For more information visit: www.semprehealth.com.
1 U.S Food & Drug Administration: Why You Need to Take Your Medications as Prescribed or Instructed
(https://www.fda.gov/drugs/special-features/why-you-need-take-your-medications-prescribed-or-instructed#:~:text=The%20High%20Cost%20of%20Not,per%20year%20in%20this%20country)
2 Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation: Data Note: Americans' Challenges with Health Care Costs (https://www.kff.org/health-costs/issue-brief/data-note-americans-challenges-health-care-costs/)
3 NEJM: Taking Our Medicine — Improving Adherence in the Accountability Era (https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMp1307084)
