Target has decided to match Walmart’s price in Tampa – St. Petersburg, Florida, where the $4 generic drug price pilot begins today. CVS and Walgreen’s, drugstore chains which have the most to lose from Walmart’s move, seek to minimize the move claiming that the price cut extends only to a subset of older generics. Here’s the drug list.

Marketwatch reports that analysts do not see the move hurting PBMs or generic drug manufacturers. The Washington Post provides an interesting overview of the move, observing that

Tovar, the Wal-Mart spokesman, said that the $4 price is available to anyone, but that Wal-Mart will try to collect insurance on prescriptions for people with prescription-drug coverage. However, some insurance contracts stipulate that pharmacies will not be paid the full cost of a drug unless customers pay the full co-payment the insurer requires.Tovar said Wal-Mart will still allow insured customers to pay $4 per prescription, even if that is less than the co-payment required and even if that means Wal-Mart will not be paid any money by insurance companies.Mohit Ghose, a spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, which represents providers of insurance of all types, including for prescription-drug coverage, said the typical co-payment for a generic prescription is $5 to $15. He said it is unclear how the Wal-Mart plan will affect insurance coverage.

The Post also had an illuminating report on the government’s regulatory reaction to the e. coli outbreak in packaged spinach.
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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is now recommending routine HIV tests for all American aged 13 to 64. Of course, HIV is the virus which can lead to AIDS. The American Medical Association has endorsed this action. The CDC believes that catching the virus earlier will improve patient outcomes.

Dr. Robert Kolodner, the Veterans Affairs Department’s chief health care infomatics officer, has been named interim national coordinator of health information technology at the Department of Health and Human Services, succeeding Dr. David Brailer who resigned last May.

The blog has followed the trend of blockbluster prescription drugs that have lost their patent protection, such as Merck’s Zocor and Pfizer’s Zoloft. The leading discount store chain Walmart announced today that

Its pharmacies will make nearly 300 generic drugs available for only $4 per prescription for up to a 30-day supply at commonly prescribed dosages. The program, to be launched on Friday [Sept. 22], will be available to customers and associates of the 65 Wal-Mart, Neighborhood Market and Sam’s Club pharmacies in Tampa Bay, Fla. area, and will be expanded to the entire state in January 2007 [and to as many states as possible next year].

The program is available to all customers, whether insured or uninsured. On average, generic drugs cost consumers $10 to $30 for a month’s supply. The announcement caused drug wholesalers and drugstore company stock prices to fall.

Health care provider price and quality transparency is a major Administration goal and a component of the President’s August 22, 2006, Executive Order. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management which administers the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program has explained its Executive Order implementation approach:

Transparency in pricing. OPM will work with carriers to make available to
FEHBP enrollees information about the cost of services delivered by various
providers. This information will be combined with quality information so that
enrollees can see quality and price information together in single, easy-to-use
sources.

Transparency in quality. OPM will work with carriers to make available
information on the performance of doctors, hospitals and other health care
providers. They will use quality measures that have been developed
collaboratively with the health care sector, to help ensure accuracy and
fairness.

OPM announced this week the FEHB plans which were the first to meet its transparency standards:

Aetna Health Plans, American Postal Workers Union consumer-driven, Av-Med,
Blue Choice for Ohio and Missouri, Blue HMO of Ohio, CaliforniaCare,
CareFirst BlueChoice, Foreign Service Benefit Plan, HealthNet of California,
HMO Health of Ohio, Humana Health Plans, Independent Health, Kaiser for
California, Colorado and Northwest regions, M-Care, Rural Letter Carriers
Health Plan, SuperMed HMO and United Healthcare.

As you know, OPM released 2007 FEHBP, supplemental dental, and supplemental vision premiums yesterday. Many more details about 2007 premiums are now available on OPM’s website – www.opm.gov and www.opm.gov/insure

Naturally, there are several news articles on the 2007 FEHBP premiums press release this morning, including the Washington Post, the Federal Times, and Govexec.com .

A multi-disciplinary group organized as Prometheus Payment Reform, Inc. is proposing a new health care provider payment model using “Evidence-Based Case Rates” that seek to tie the payment to compliance with evidence based medical guidelines. “The initial focus of the model is on five specific clinical areas: cancer care (starting with lung and colon cancers), chronic care (starting with diabetes, depression, hypertension and hyperlipidemia), interventional cardiology, orthopedic care (in particular joint replacements) and routine and preventive care.” The group which includes executives from Bridges to Excellence, the Leapfrog Group, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, and the American Hospital Association, currently is preparing to conduct pilot tests of the model in several regions.

As I earlier blogged, the U.S. Institute of Medicine strongly recommends electronic prescribing to reduce medication errors and related health care costs. In his September 1, 2006, testimony before the House Federal Workforce and Agency Organization Subcommittee, OPM Deputy Associate Director Dan Green advised the members of OPM’s plan to conduct an e-prescribing pilot program in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. More details are to follow.