opioid_pills

Alabama’s biggest insurer will no longer cover OxyContin prescriptions

pharmafile | November 9, 2018 | News story | Medical Communications Alabama, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, OxyContin, insurance, opioids 

The state of Alabama’s biggest insurer Blue Cross and Blue Shield will no long cover opioid painkiller OxyContin. The decision has come in response to the thousands of overdose deaths, caused by the drug each year.

The insurer has said that they will no longer cover OxyContin by January 1st 2019. However the company will continue to cover certain types of oxycodone and other alternatives.

OxyContin drugmaker Purdue Pharma commented: “The nation’s opioid crisis is a significant and urgent public health challenge, and Purdue Pharma is deeply concerned about the toll this crisis is having on communities.”

Meanwhile Florida’s biggest insurer Florida Blue stopped covering OxyContin prescription in January of this year. The move led to a 68% reduction in the use of OxyContin and a 75% increase in non-opioid prescriptions.

Overall more than 115 people die from opioid overdoses every day in the United States, while 73,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2017.

The insurer commented on the situation in saying that “while progress is being made, this issue calls for continued action by all parties.”

Louis Goss

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