Self-Insured Employers, Plan Sponsors Discover Value of Specialty PBM & Medical Infusion Carve-Outs: Largest TPAs, SIIA Regulatory Expert Present Episode 2, AscellaHealth Educational Webinars

AscellaHealth, a national specialty pharmacy benefit manager (SPBMTM) serving commercial, Medicare and Medicaid segments, in collaboration with Leaf Health, will present strategies for self-insured employers and plan sponsors to manage costs around areas of pharmacy disruption, offering attendees valuable guidance from the nation’s leading third party administrators as well as the regulatory expertise from the Self-Insurance Institute of America (SIIA). Episode 2 of the 2020 Webinar Series “From Evolution to Revolution: How the Rise of Specialty Pharmacy Drove a New PBM Model” focuses upon cost-curbing solutions related to specialty pharmacy benefit management (PBM) and medical infusion carve-out models.

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AscellaHealth Webinar Series Episode 2 Speakers (Graphic: Business Wire)

Episode 2, “Evolution of the PBM Business Model for Specialty Medical Rx,” Aug. 27, 1:00 p.m. ET (60 min.) features Ryan C. Work, vice president, Government Relations, SIIA; Bruce Flunker, president, EBSO, a 90 Degree Benefits company; David W. West, CLU, CEBS, director, Corporate Development, Group and Pension Administrators, Inc. (GPA); and Robert Shelley, CEO/founder, Leaf Health.

Register here to attend and read AscellaHealth’s article, “Hemophilia Management Program Helps Self-insured Employers Battle High Costs,” in the Self-Insurer.

“Specialty drug innovation continues at a rapid pace, with an emphasis on rare diseases that have limited to no treatment options and market concerns about their extraordinary high cost and overall effectiveness,” says Dea Belazi, president and CEO, AscellaHealth. “We’ve attracted leading industry experts to this webinar to demonstrate that saving opportunities still exist with generics and biosimilar drugs. They will provide meaningful insights for plan sponsors and self-insured employers in the design options that accommodate new drugs and utilization of formularies to drive down net cost by excluding high-cost, low-value drugs.”

Speakers will also outline how to design clinical utilization management programs, manage drug spend through both the pharmacy plan and medical plan and adopt alternative treatment programs beyond drug therapy. In addition, they will help attendees gain a greater understanding of how to use data analytics to identify potential risk of new therapy impact and prepare to continuously evaluate new drugs and treatments.

Nearly 7,000 medicines are currently in development, with almost 70% of them potentially first in class. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to set records for novel therapy approvals in 2018, and the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) reported that there were 59 novel therapies and biologics approved. Of these, more than half were for rare or orphan diseases; 14 were designated breakthrough therapies; and 16 were to treat different cancers. Currently, only 7% of rare diseases have treatments.

“AscellaHealth’s specialty and medical Rx management services are designed to reduce costs, increase specialty drug availability and promote patient adherence through appropriate disease therapy management and enhanced patient outcomes,” adds Belazi. “In addition to its full-service PBM capabilities, AscellaHealth provides full and custom PBM services to commercial, Medicare and Medicaid market segments with a focus on specialty and medical pharmacy management.”

Each episode will be recorded for access during the 90-day period following live presentations. Registrants who attend at least two of the sessions will receive a formal “Insights” document featuring presentation highlights and industry updates.

About AscellaHealth

AscellaHealth, a national specialty pharmacy benefit manager (SPBMTM), serving commercial, Medicare and Medicaid segments, offers high quality prescription drug benefit management services. Complemented by other customizable services, such as carved-out specialty pharmacy services and cost-savings programs, AscellaHealth provides a unique, proprietary service portfolio. Visit www.ascellahealth.com.

About Leaf Health

Leaf Health is a national consulting firm dedicated to supporting the mid-market with prescription drug program strategies. We support our partners with guiding on the latest in Rx funding alternatives, discounts and rebate programs available in the market for both the traditional pharmacy and medical benefit. Our focus is to introduce innovative strategies that allow our customers to grow by offering unique pharmacy program products and solutions to their customers or employees. Our team of experts apply their expertise in the context of client business situation and typically return a 20:1 ROI.

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