Drug prices: Utilization management with insurance and patients

Utilization management can involve a variety of factors, but generally it involves how insurance plans dictate the drugs that patients take. Combined with formulary placement by insurance companies, drug utilization management can be a concern in the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. Adina Lasser, director of public policy and government affairs with the Alliance for Aging Research, discusses how insurance companies could require patients to try one medicine before another one preferred by a physician. The time spent failing on one medicine can create delays in care that cause real-world health effects on patients.