Patients get choices in drug pricing ;More health plans try tiered fee structures in place of formularies for costlier pharmaceuticals.(Brief Article)

Modern Healthcare, March, 2000 by Benko, Laura B.

Wrestling with ways to keep ballooning pharmacy costs in check, health plans are fast replacing the "Mother may I?" approach to approving prescriptions with new tiered systems in which patients get what they're willing to pay for.

Tiered fee structures, which charge higher copayments for costlier drugs, offer a potential overall solution to the nation's pharmaceutical spending spree: Health plans can offset the often exorbitant cost of many popular drugs, and consumers get greater freedom of choice.

That's a big switch from the yes-or-no approach to covering drugs ...