CVS drops Viagra, other drugs from coverage, reports say

Recently, CVS staff members declared that this vendor would definitely put aside the medicines of its CVS Caremark group of included drug use.

Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Geoffrey Porges “calls the coverage exclusions a “potent weapon” for pharmacy benefit managers, Loftus writes. For instance, customers taking Pfizer’s Viagra for erectile dysfunction can take Cialis, manufactured by Eli Lilly, reports CNN.

CVS Health (CVS) said that from next year, it will not be covering viagra and treatments for a range of disorders and diseases, including diabetes and multiple sclerosis, but instead will offer equivalent and cheaper medicines that fall under its insurance plan.

CVS is making an effort to direct people toward generic versions of these drugs.

“This move comes as drugs hit an age of astronomical prices”.

CVS in a prepared statement said that for the drugs being removed, equally effective ones with lower costs overall are still available. Spending on prescription drugs last year reached a record-breaking $374 billion, up 13% from 2013, the largest percentage increase in more than a decade. “CVS first began excluding drugs from its preferred list in 2012, and Express Scripts later followed suit”.

CVS’s bigger competitor Express Scripts Holding will continue to cover Viagra and Cialis in 2016, according to the list it published this week.

Indeed, this tactic has resulted in “significant savings” for employers and other sponsors of benefit plans, a CVS spokeswoman said.

The full list of the formulary drug removals can be found here.